Details:

Journal Title:
Environmental Research Letters
Personal Author:
Turney, Chris S M ; Jones, Richard T ; Lister, David ; Jones, Phil ; Williams, Alan N ; ... More +
Turney, Chris S M ; Jones, Richard T ; Lister, David ; Jones, Phil ; Williams, Alan N ; Hogg, Alan ; Thomas, Zoë A ; Compo, Gilbert P ; Yin, Xungang ; Fogwill, Christopher J ; Palmer, Jonathan ; Colwell, Steve ; Allan, Rob ; Visbeck, Martin Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences)
OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; PSL (Physical Sciences Laboratory) ; ESRL (Earth System Research Laboratory) ; CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) Less -
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 C-14 and Cs-137) 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.
Source:
Environmental Research Letters, 11(6), 064009.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009
Document Type:
Journal Article
Rights Information:
CC BY
Compliance:
Submitted
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:e066df29045b4b291ac975b60be769ad028c415809cb189684664edf97a7b400
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/14624/noaa_14624_DS1.pdf
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