Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Thomas, Elizabeth R.
• Bracegirdle, Thomas J.
• Turner, John
• Wolff, Eric W.

Titel

A 308 year record of climate variability in West Antarctica

Ist Teil von

• Geophysical research letters, 2013-10, Vol.40 (20), p.5492-5496

Ort / Verlag

Washington: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Quelle

Wiley Online Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We present a new stable isotope record from Ellsworth Land which provides a valuable 308 year record (1702–2009) of climate variability from coastal West Antarctica. Climate variability at this site is strongly forced by sea surface temperatures and atmospheric pressure in the tropical Pacific and related to local sea ice conditions. The record shows that this region has warmed since the late 1950s, at a similar magnitude to that observed in the Antarctic Peninsula and central West Antarctica; however, this warming trend is not unique. More dramatic isotopic warming (and cooling) trends occurred in the mid‐nineteenth and eighteenth centuries, suggesting that at present, the effect of anthropogenic climate drivers at this location has not exceeded the natural range of climate variability in the context of the past ~300 years. Key Points Recent warming in West Antarctica is not unusual in the context of the past 300 years Natural rather than anthropogenic variability is driving climate in this region Climate is influenced by SSTs and atmospheric pressure in the South Pacific