Premium
Different Trends in Antarctic Temperature and Atmospheric CO 2 During the Last Glacial
Author(s) -
Zheng Peisong,
Pedro Joel B.,
Jochum Markus,
Rasmussen Sune O.,
Lai Zhongping
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2021gl093868
Subject(s) - stadial , glacial period , ice core , climatology , atmospheric circulation , atmospheric temperature , environmental science , climate change , abrupt climate change , atmospheric sciences , geology , global warming , oceanography , effects of global warming , geomorphology
We analyze the past 67,000 years of climate using Antarctic ice‐core records to constrain the mechanisms involved in (a) the “bipolar seesaw” relationship between Greenland and Antarctic surface temperature variations, and (b) mechanisms of millennial‐scale atmospheric CO 2 concentration variations. Specifically, we determine for each Greenland Stadial the rate of Antarctic temperature and atmospheric CO 2 rise. We find that Antarctic warming rates significantly decrease as the climate cools during the glacial period, whereas the rate of atmospheric CO 2 rise does not significantly change. Also, we find that the rates of Antarctic warming and atmospheric CO 2 rise are both insensitive to whether a given stadial contains a Heinrich event. These results challenge the view that a single Southern‐Ocean‐based mechanism dominates the observed glacial variability in Antarctic temperature and atmospheric CO 2 . Instead, our results are consistent with an important contribution of low‐ and mid‐latitude processes to millennial‐scale atmospheric CO 2 changes.