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...
Published in: | Environmental Research Letters |
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ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/unsworks_39709 2024-05-12T07:52:50+00:00 Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years Turney, C Jones, RT Lister, D Jones, P Williams, AN Hogg, A Thomas, ZA Compo, GP Yin, X Fogwill, CJ Palmer, J Colwell, C Allen, R Visbeck, M 2016-06-09 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39709 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/7c5c0a09-b0c1-4044-9d5a-220daf300578/download https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 unknown IOP Publishing: Open Access Journals http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130104156 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL100100195 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009/meta;jsessionid=62454BB95F4FFF5C7B2CCBA05C3EA0E4.c4.iopscience.cld.iop.org http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39709 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/7c5c0a09-b0c1-4044-9d5a-220daf300578/download https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC-BY-NC-ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ free_to_read urn:ISSN:1748-9326 Environmental Research Letters, 11, 6, 064009-064009 13 Climate Action journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2016 ftunswworks https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 2024-04-17T15:02:21Z 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 UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Amundsen Sea Pacific Environmental Research Letters 11 6 064009 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
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ftunswworks |
language |
unknown |
topic |
13 Climate Action |
spellingShingle |
13 Climate Action Turney, C Jones, RT Lister, D Jones, P Williams, AN Hogg, A Thomas, ZA Compo, GP Yin, X Fogwill, CJ Palmer, J Colwell, C Allen, R Visbeck, M Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years |
topic_facet |
13 Climate Action |
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, C Jones, RT Lister, D Jones, P Williams, AN Hogg, A Thomas, ZA Compo, GP Yin, X Fogwill, CJ Palmer, J Colwell, C Allen, R Visbeck, M |
author_facet |
Turney, C Jones, RT Lister, D Jones, P Williams, AN Hogg, A Thomas, ZA Compo, GP Yin, X Fogwill, CJ Palmer, J Colwell, C Allen, R Visbeck, M |
author_sort |
Turney, C |
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 |
publisher |
IOP Publishing: Open Access Journals |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39709 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/7c5c0a09-b0c1-4044-9d5a-220daf300578/download https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Amundsen Sea Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Amundsen Sea Pacific |
genre |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Sea Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula |
op_source |
urn:ISSN:1748-9326 Environmental Research Letters, 11, 6, 064009-064009 |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130104156 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL100100195 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009/meta;jsessionid=62454BB95F4FFF5C7B2CCBA05C3EA0E4.c4.iopscience.cld.iop.org http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_39709 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/7c5c0a09-b0c1-4044-9d5a-220daf300578/download https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009 |
op_rights |
open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC-BY-NC-ND https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ free_to_read |
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 |
_version_ |
1798838132103184384 |