Arctic sea ice loss warmed the temperate East Asian winter in the mid-Holocene

Abstract The recent colder winters in midlatitude Eurasia have been proposed to result from Arctic sea-ice decline. However, large uncertainties remain regarding this link in the present variable climate. Here, we present ice-rafted debris records from the eastern Arctic and geochemical data from th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications Earth & Environment
Main Authors: Jiang Dong, Xuefa Shi, Haijin Dai, Zhengyao Lu, Xiting Liu, Anatolii S. Astakhov, Limin Hu, Gang Yang, Yuri Vasilenko, Alexander Bosin, Jingjing Gao, Yanguang Liu, Jianjun Zou, Zhengquan Yao, Anchun Li
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024
Subjects:
Geology
QE1-996.5
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Sea ice
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01559-5
https://doaj.org/article/93f061a32f564fc284c2acd9f4a86895
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Summary:Abstract The recent colder winters in midlatitude Eurasia have been proposed to result from Arctic sea-ice decline. However, large uncertainties remain regarding this link in the present variable climate. Here, we present ice-rafted debris records from the eastern Arctic and geochemical data from the temperate East China Sea to reconstruct Holocene changes in sea ice and the East Asian winter monsoon. Our reconstructions and climate numerical simulations revealed enhanced Arctic sea-ice decline but warmer winters in East Asia in the mid-Holocene than in the late Holocene. In the warmer mid-Holocene, enhanced Arctic sea-ice loss transferred more heat from intensive summer solar insolation to the winter atmosphere, suppressing meridional heat transport; thus, less high-latitude cold air moved to lower latitudes in Asia due to the weakened winter monsoon. Our findings imply that the colder winters in East Asia may not change the long-term trend toward winter warming in the context of Arctic sea-ice decline.

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