Journal
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 308, Issue 1-2, Pages 41-51Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.05.021
Keywords
Little Ice Age; Mediaeval Warm Period; abrupt climate change; sea-saw mechanism; Antarctica; Southern Ocean
Categories
Funding
- Foundation of Research Science and Technology [VICX0704, CO5X0202, CO5X0902]
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Office of Polar Programs (OPP) [1042883, 0837883] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The Little Ice Age (LIA) is one of the most prominent climate shifts in the past 5000 yrs. It has been suggested that the LIA might be the most recent of the Dansgaard-Oeschger events, which are better known as abrupt, large scale climate oscillations during the last glacial period. If the case, then according to Broecker (2000a, 2000b) Antarctica should have warmed during the LIA, when the Northern Hemisphere was cold. Here we present new data from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, that indicates surface temperatures were similar to 2 degrees C colder during the LIA, with colder sea surface temperatures in the Southern Ocean and/or increased sea-ice extent, stronger katabatic winds, and decreased snow accumulation. Whilst we find there was large spatial and temporal variability, overall Antarctica was cooler and stormier during the LIA. Although temperatures have warmed since the termination of the LIA, atmospheric circulation strength has remained at the same, elevated level. We conclude, that the LIA was either caused by alternative forcings, or that the sea-saw mechanism operates differently during warm periods. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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