Ice cores record significant 1940s Antarctic warmth related to tropical climate variability
Although the 20th Century warming of global climate is well known, climate change in the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere (SH), especially in the first half of the century, remains poorly documented. We present a composite of water stable isotope data from high-resolution ice cores from the West An...
| Published in: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
National Academies Press
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://nldr.library.ucar.edu/repository/collections/OSGC-000-000-002-368 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0803627105 |
| Summary: | Although the 20th Century warming of global climate is well known, climate change in the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere (SH), especially in the first half of the century, remains poorly documented. We present a composite of water stable isotope data from high-resolution ice cores from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This record, representative of West Antarctic surface temperature, shows extreme positive anomalies in the 1936 - 45 decade that are significant in the context of the background 20th Century warming trend. We interpret these anomalies--previously undocumented in the high-latitude SH--as indicative of strong teleconnections in part driven by the major 1939 - 42 El Niño. These anomalies are coherent with tropical sea-surface temperature, mean SH air temperature, and North Pacific sea-level pressure, underscoring the sensitivity of West Antarctica's climate, and potentially its ice sheet, to large-scale changes in the global climate. |
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