Split westerlies over Europe in the early Little Ice Age

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Hu, Hsun-Ming, Shen, Chuan-Chou, Chiang, John, Trouet, Valerie, Michel, Véronique, Tsai, Hsien-Chen, Valensi, Patricia, Spötl, Christoph, Starnini, Elisabetta, Zunino, Marta, Chien, Wei-Yi, Sung, Wen-Hui, Chien, Yu-Tang, Chang, Ping, Korty, Robert
• Other Authors: High-Precision Mass Spectrometry and Environment Change Laboratory (HISPEC), National Taiwan University Taiwan (NTU), Research Center for Future Earth, National Taiwan University, Department of geography, University of California, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research University of Arizona (LTRR), University of Arizona, Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age (CEPAM), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), Géoazur (GEOAZUR 7329), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud ), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Fondation I.P.H, Universität Innsbruck Innsbruck, University of Pisa - Università di Pisa, Archaeological Superintendency of Liguria, Toirano Cave, Piazzale D. Maineri 1, Toirano, National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences; [SHS.ENVIR]Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies; [SDU.STU.CL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Climatology; Arctic; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03761447; https://hal.science/hal-03761447/document; https://hal.science/hal-03761447/file/s41467-022-32654-w.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32654-w

International audience Abstract The Little Ice Age (LIA; ca. 1450–1850 C.E.) is the best documented cold period of the past millennium, characterized by high-frequency volcanism, low solar activity, and high variability of Arctic sea-ice cover. Past studies of LIA Atlantic circulation changes have referenced the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), but recent studies have noted that LIA climate patterns appear to possess complexity not captured by an NAO analogue. Here, we present a new precipitation-sensitive stalagmite record from northern Italy that covers the past 800 years. We show that in the early LIA (1470–1610 C.E.), increased atmospheric ridging over northern Europe split the climatological westerlies away from central and northern Europe, possibly caused by concurrent Artic sea-ice reduction. With ongoing ice melting in the northern high latitudes and decreasing solar irradiance in the coming years, the early LIA may potentially serve as an analogue for European hydroclimatic conditions in the coming decades.