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

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 tempera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications Earth & Environment
Main Authors: Dong, Jiang, Shi, Xuefa, Dai, Haijin, Lu, Zhengyao, Liu, Xiting, Astakhov, Anatolii S., Hu, Limin, Yang, Gang, Vasilenko, Yuri, Bosin, Alexander, Gao, Jingjing, Liu, Yanguang, Zou, Jianjun, Yao, Zhengquan, Li, Anchun
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2024
Subjects:
Climate Research
Arctic
Sea ice
Online Access:https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/78e559df-0ad0-4c99-a052-549613a82d8e
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01559-5
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Summary: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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