Temperature response in the Altai region lags solar forcing
Abstract
The role of the sun on Earth's climate variability is still much debated. Here we present an ice core oxygen isotope record from the continental Siberian Altai, serving as a high-resolution temperature proxy for the last 750 years. The strong correlation between reconstructed temperature and solar activity suggests solar forcing as a main driver for temperature variations during the period 1250-1850 in this region. The precisely dated record allowed for the identification of a 10-30 year lag between solar forcing and temperature response, underlining the importance of indirect sun-climate mechanisms involving ocean-induced changes in atmospheric circulation. Solar contribution to temperature change became less important during industrial period 1850-2000 in the Altai region.
- Publication:
-
Geophysical Research Letters
- Pub Date:
- January 2009
- DOI:
- 10.1029/2008GL035930
- Bibcode:
- 2009GeoRL..36.1808E
- Keywords:
-
- Atmospheric Processes: Paleoclimatology (0473;
- 4900);
- Paleoceanography: Ice cores (0724);
- Global Change: Climate variability (1635;
- 3305;
- 3309;
- 4215;
- 4513);
- Geochemistry: Stable isotope geochemistry (0454;
- 4870)