Synchronous change of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature during the last deglacial warming

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Frédéric Parrenin, Valérie Masson Delmotte, Peter Köhler, Dominique Raynaud, Didier Paillard, Jakob Schwander, Amaëlle Landais, Anna Wegner, Jean Jouzel, BARBANTE, Carlo
• Other Authors: Frédéric, Parrenin, Valérie Masson, Delmotte, Peter, Köhler, Dominique, Raynaud, Didier, Paillard, Jakob, Schwander, Barbante, Carlo, Amaëlle, Landai, Anna, Wegner, Jean, Jouzel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Settore CHIM/01 - Chimica Analitica; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10278/38982; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1226368

Understanding the role of atmospheric CO2 during past climate changes requires clear knowledge of how it varies in time relative to temperature. Antarctic ice cores preserve highly resolved records of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature for the past 800,000 years. Here we propose a revised relative age scale for the concentration of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature for the last deglacial warming, using data from five Antarctic ice cores. We infer the phasing between CO2 concentration and Antarctic temperature at four times when their trends change abruptly. We find no significant asynchrony between them, indicating that Antarctic temperature did not begin to rise hundreds of years before the concentration of atmospheric CO2, as has been suggested by earlier studies.