Open AccessHigher sea surface temperature in the Indian Ocean during the Last Interglacial weakened the South Asian monsoon
Author(s) -
Yiming V. Wang,
Thomas Larsen,
Stefan Lauterbach,
Nils Andersen,
Thomas Blanz,
Uta KrebsKanzow,
Paul Gierz,
Robert Schneider
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2107720119
Subject(s) - monsoon , climatology , interglacial , east asian monsoon , monsoon of south asia , holocene , south asia , sea surface temperature , climate change , oceanography , geology , insolation , indian ocean , global warming , environmental science , proxy (statistics) , climate model , tropical monsoon climate , glacial period , history , ethnology , geomorphology , machine learning , computer science
Significance Understanding the drivers of South Asian monsoon intensity is pivotal for improving climate forecasting under global warming scenarios. Solar insolation is assumed to be the dominant driver of monsoon variability in warm climate regimes, but this has not been verified by proxy data. We report a South Asian monsoon rainfall record spanning the last ∼130 kyr in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna river catchment. Our multiproxy data reveal that the South Asian monsoon was weaker during the Last Interglacial (130 to 115 ka)—despite higher insolation—than during the Holocene (11.6 ka to present), thus questioning the widely accepted model assumption. Our work implies that Indian Ocean warming may increase the occurrence of severe monsoon failures in South Asia.