Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years
Determining the timing and impact of anthropogenic climate change in data-sparse regions is a considerable challenge. Arguably, nowhere is this more difficult than the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic South Atlantic where observational records are relatively short but where high rates of war...
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ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:59316 2023-06-06T11:43:18+02:00 Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years Turney, Chris S M Jones, Richard T Lister, David Jones, Philip Williams, Alan N Hogg, Alan Thomas, Zoë A Compo, Gilbert P Yin, Xungang Fogwill, Christopher J Palmer, Jonathan Colwell, Steve Allan, Rob Visbeck, Martin 2016-06-09 application/pdf https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59316/ https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59316/1/Turney_et_al.pdf https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 en eng https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59316/1/Turney_et_al.pdf Turney, Chris S M, Jones, Richard T, Lister, David, Jones, Philip, Williams, Alan N, Hogg, Alan, Thomas, Zoë A, Compo, Gilbert P, Yin, Xungang, Fogwill, Christopher J, Palmer, Jonathan, Colwell, Steve, Allan, Rob and Visbeck, Martin (2016) Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years. Environmental Research Letters, 11 (6). ISSN 1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 cc_by Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftuniveastangl https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 2023-04-13T22:31:53Z Determining the timing and impact of anthropogenic climate change in data-sparse regions is a considerable challenge. Arguably, nowhere is this more difficult than the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic South Atlantic where observational records are relatively short but where high rates of warming have been experienced since records began. Here we interrogate recently developed monthly-resolved observational datasets from the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and extend the records back using climate-sensitive peat growth over the past 6000 years. Investigating the subantarctic climate data with ERA-Interim and Twentieth Century Reanalysis, we find that a stepped increase in precipitation across the 1940s is related to a change in synoptic atmospheric circulation: a westward migration of quasi-permanent positive pressure anomalies in the South Atlantic has brought the subantarctic islands under the increased influence of meridional airflow associated with the Amundsen Sea Low. Analysis of three comprehensively multi-dated (using 14C and 137Cs) peat sequences across the two islands demonstrates unprecedented growth rates since the mid-twentieth century relative to the last 6000 years. Comparison to observational and reconstructed sea surface temperatures suggests this change is linked to a warming tropical Pacific Ocean. Our results imply ‘modern’ South Atlantic atmospheric circulation has not been under this configuration for millennia. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Pacific The Antarctic Environmental Research Letters 11 6 064009 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftuniveastangl |
language |
English |
description |
Determining the timing and impact of anthropogenic climate change in data-sparse regions is a considerable challenge. Arguably, nowhere is this more difficult than the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic South Atlantic where observational records are relatively short but where high rates of warming have been experienced since records began. Here we interrogate recently developed monthly-resolved observational datasets from the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and extend the records back using climate-sensitive peat growth over the past 6000 years. Investigating the subantarctic climate data with ERA-Interim and Twentieth Century Reanalysis, we find that a stepped increase in precipitation across the 1940s is related to a change in synoptic atmospheric circulation: a westward migration of quasi-permanent positive pressure anomalies in the South Atlantic has brought the subantarctic islands under the increased influence of meridional airflow associated with the Amundsen Sea Low. Analysis of three comprehensively multi-dated (using 14C and 137Cs) peat sequences across the two islands demonstrates unprecedented growth rates since the mid-twentieth century relative to the last 6000 years. Comparison to observational and reconstructed sea surface temperatures suggests this change is linked to a warming tropical Pacific Ocean. Our results imply ‘modern’ South Atlantic atmospheric circulation has not been under this configuration for millennia. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Turney, Chris S M Jones, Richard T Lister, David Jones, Philip Williams, Alan N Hogg, Alan Thomas, Zoë A Compo, Gilbert P Yin, Xungang Fogwill, Christopher J Palmer, Jonathan Colwell, Steve Allan, Rob Visbeck, Martin |
spellingShingle |
Turney, Chris S M Jones, Richard T Lister, David Jones, Philip Williams, Alan N Hogg, Alan Thomas, Zoë A Compo, Gilbert P Yin, Xungang Fogwill, Christopher J Palmer, Jonathan Colwell, Steve Allan, Rob Visbeck, Martin Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
author_facet |
Turney, Chris S M Jones, Richard T Lister, David Jones, Philip Williams, Alan N Hogg, Alan Thomas, Zoë A Compo, Gilbert P Yin, Xungang Fogwill, Christopher J Palmer, Jonathan Colwell, Steve Allan, Rob Visbeck, Martin |
author_sort |
Turney, Chris S M |
title |
Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
title_short |
Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
title_full |
Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
title_fullStr |
Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
title_full_unstemmed |
Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
title_sort |
anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the south atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59316/ https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59316/1/Turney_et_al.pdf https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 |
geographic |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Pacific The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Pacific The Antarctic |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
op_relation |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59316/1/Turney_et_al.pdf Turney, Chris S M, Jones, Richard T, Lister, David, Jones, Philip, Williams, Alan N, Hogg, Alan, Thomas, Zoë A, Compo, Gilbert P, Yin, Xungang, Fogwill, Christopher J, Palmer, Jonathan, Colwell, Steve, Allan, Rob and Visbeck, Martin (2016) Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years. Environmental Research Letters, 11 (6). ISSN 1748-9326 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 |
container_title |
Environmental Research Letters |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
064009 |
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1767954069693923328 |