Proxy data (e.g. lacustrine) can be used to generate proxy temperature and precip. data for past periods, and they can conceivably be compared with historical simulations by climate models for validation purposes, especially for times before ~1950, i.e., before good observational networks were established to provide more direct validation. Those lacustrine records, however, don't have much to say about future climate. Any validation would be over historical times, and if the models perform okay for past climate, then confidence should be increased in their future projections.
The last glacial period was punctuated by abrupt climate changes that are widely considered to result from millennial-scale variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). However, the origin of these AMOC reorganizations remains poorly understood.
The climatic connection between both hemispheres indicated by proxies suggests...
Some broad issues arising in the statistical comparison of the output of climate models with the corresponding climate data are reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the question of detecting climate change. -Author