Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present
Three lines of evidence for abrupt tropical climate change, both past and present, are presented. First, annually and decadally averaged δ18O and net mass-balance histories for the last 400 and 2,000 yr, respectively, demonstrate that the current warming at high elevations in the mid- to low latitud...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:1484420 2023-05-15T16:38:18+02:00 Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present Thompson, Lonnie G. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen Brecher, Henry Davis, Mary León, Blanca Les, Don Lin, Ping-Nan Mashiotta, Tracy Mountain, Keith 2006-07-11 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484420 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16815970 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603900103 en eng National Academy of Sciences http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484420 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16815970 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603900103 © 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA Physical Sciences Text 2006 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603900103 2013-08-31T02:36:26Z Three lines of evidence for abrupt tropical climate change, both past and present, are presented. First, annually and decadally averaged δ18O and net mass-balance histories for the last 400 and 2,000 yr, respectively, demonstrate that the current warming at high elevations in the mid- to low latitudes is unprecedented for at least the last 2 millennia. Second, the continuing retreat of most mid- to low-latitude glaciers, many having persisted for thousands of years, signals a recent and abrupt change in the Earth’s climate system. Finally, rooted, soft-bodied wetland plants, now exposed along the margins as the Quelccaya ice cap (Peru) retreats, have been radiocarbon dated and, when coupled with other widespread proxy evidence, provide strong evidence for an abrupt mid-Holocene climate event that marked the transition from early Holocene (pre-5,000-yr-B.P.) conditions to cooler, late Holocene (post-5,000-yr-B.P.) conditions. This abrupt event, ≈5,200 yr ago, was widespread and spatially coherent through much of the tropics and was coincident with structural changes in several civilizations. These three lines of evidence argue that the present warming and associated glacier retreat are unprecedented in some areas for at least 5,200 yr. The ongoing global-scale, rapid retreat of mountain glaciers is not only contributing to global sea-level rise but also threatening freshwater supplies in many of the world’s most populous regions. Text Ice cap PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103 28 10536 10543 |
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Physical Sciences Thompson, Lonnie G. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen Brecher, Henry Davis, Mary León, Blanca Les, Don Lin, Ping-Nan Mashiotta, Tracy Mountain, Keith Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present |
topic_facet |
Physical Sciences |
description |
Three lines of evidence for abrupt tropical climate change, both past and present, are presented. First, annually and decadally averaged δ18O and net mass-balance histories for the last 400 and 2,000 yr, respectively, demonstrate that the current warming at high elevations in the mid- to low latitudes is unprecedented for at least the last 2 millennia. Second, the continuing retreat of most mid- to low-latitude glaciers, many having persisted for thousands of years, signals a recent and abrupt change in the Earth’s climate system. Finally, rooted, soft-bodied wetland plants, now exposed along the margins as the Quelccaya ice cap (Peru) retreats, have been radiocarbon dated and, when coupled with other widespread proxy evidence, provide strong evidence for an abrupt mid-Holocene climate event that marked the transition from early Holocene (pre-5,000-yr-B.P.) conditions to cooler, late Holocene (post-5,000-yr-B.P.) conditions. This abrupt event, ≈5,200 yr ago, was widespread and spatially coherent through much of the tropics and was coincident with structural changes in several civilizations. These three lines of evidence argue that the present warming and associated glacier retreat are unprecedented in some areas for at least 5,200 yr. The ongoing global-scale, rapid retreat of mountain glaciers is not only contributing to global sea-level rise but also threatening freshwater supplies in many of the world’s most populous regions. |
format |
Text |
author |
Thompson, Lonnie G. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen Brecher, Henry Davis, Mary León, Blanca Les, Don Lin, Ping-Nan Mashiotta, Tracy Mountain, Keith |
author_facet |
Thompson, Lonnie G. Mosley-Thompson, Ellen Brecher, Henry Davis, Mary León, Blanca Les, Don Lin, Ping-Nan Mashiotta, Tracy Mountain, Keith |
author_sort |
Thompson, Lonnie G. |
title |
Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present |
title_short |
Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present |
title_full |
Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present |
title_fullStr |
Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present |
title_full_unstemmed |
Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present |
title_sort |
abrupt tropical climate change: past and present |
publisher |
National Academy of Sciences |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484420 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16815970 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603900103 |
genre |
Ice cap |
genre_facet |
Ice cap |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1484420 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16815970 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603900103 |
op_rights |
© 2006 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0603900103 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
103 |
container_issue |
28 |
container_start_page |
10536 |
op_container_end_page |
10543 |
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1766028577169473536 |