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West African Ocean sediment core links monsoons to global climate evolution
June 01, 2007(Santa Barbara, Calif.) -- Monsoons, the life-giving, torrential rains of Asia and Africa, have an ancient, unsuspected connection to previous Ice Age climate cycles, according to scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at Kiel University in Germany.
Analyzing a 120-foot sediment core from the Gulf of Guinea in equatorial West Africa recovered by a German research expedition, UC Santa Barbara postdoctoral scholar Syee Weldeab and paleoclimatologist David Lea have revealed 155,000 years of continuous monsoon history. "It is the longest, most detailed record of West African monsoons that has ever been reconstructed," said Lea. The find captured several Ice Age climate cycles.
From chemical data locked into fossil plankton shells, the researchers documented how the strength of ancient monsoons is directly tied to two factors: the Northern Hemisphere's climate shifts due to the expansion and contraction of the European and North American continental ice sheets, and the amount of local solar radiation hitting the African region.
"This is the first study to definitively tie together the influence of these two factors over several climate cycles," said Lea, who has published the collaborative results in the June 1 issue of the journal Science under the heading "155,000 Years of West African Monsoon and Ocean Thermal Evolution." He noted that there is "a dramatic resurgence of the West African monsoon" at the end of each glacial cycle.
The study's importance to the modern climate, said Lea, lies in its "demonstration of the sensitivity of the monsoon region to global climate conditions." With hundreds of millions of people dependent on subsistence agriculture in these regions, he said, "Insights from the study of ancient climate cycles will lead to more confident predictions of how monsoon patterns will evolve in a future warmed by greenhouse gases."
University of California - Santa Barbara
"This is the first study to definitively tie together the influence of these two factors over several climate cycles," said Lea, who has published the collaborative results in the June 1 issue of the journal Science under the heading "155,000 Years of West African Monsoon and Ocean Thermal Evolution." He noted that there is "a dramatic resurgence of the West African monsoon" at the end of each glacial cycle.
The study's importance to the modern climate, said Lea, lies in its "demonstration of the sensitivity of the monsoon region to global climate conditions." With hundreds of millions of people dependent on subsistence agriculture in these regions, he said, "Insights from the study of ancient climate cycles will lead to more confident predictions of how monsoon patterns will evolve in a future warmed by greenhouse gases."
University of California - Santa Barbara
Monsoon Current Events and Monsoon News RSSNew insight into predicting cholera epidemics in the Bengal Delta
Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, has reemerged as a global killer. Outbreaks typically occur once a year in Africa and Latin America. But in Bangladesh the epidemics occur twice a year - in the spring and again in the fall.
Climate change threatens rice production
Once-in-a-lifetime floods in the Philippines, India's delayed monsoon, and extensive drought in Australia are taking their toll on this year's rice crops, demonstrating the vulnerability of rice to extreme weather.
Last time carbon dioxide levels were this high: 15 million years ago, scientists report
You would have to go back at least 15 million years to find carbon dioxide levels on Earth as high as they are today, a UCLA scientist and colleagues report Oct. 8 in the online edition of the journal Science.
Sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon
The windswept deserts of northern China might seem an odd destination for studying the heavy monsoon rains that routinely drench the more tropical regions of Southeast Asia.
Ancient China's sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon rains
The windswept deserts of northern China might seem an odd destination for studying the heavy monsoon rains that routinely drench the more tropical regions of Southeast Asia.
Texas A&M researcher shows possible link between 1918 El Niño and flu pandemic
Research conducted at Texas A&M University casts doubts on the notion that El Niño has been getting stronger because of global warming and raises interesting questions about the relationship between El Niño and a severe flu pandemic 91 years ago.
Scientists uncover solar cycle, stratosphere and ocean connections
Subtle connections between the 11-year solar cycle, the stratosphere, and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according to research appearing this week in the journal Science.
Connections among solar cycle, stratosphere and ocean discovered
Subtle connections between the 11-year-solar cycle, the stratosphere and the tropical Pacific Ocean work in sync to generate periodic weather patterns that affect much of the globe, according to research results appearing this week in the journal Science.
Tropical storms endure over wet land, fizzle over dry
If it has already rained, it's going to continue to pour, according to a Purdue University study of how ocean-origin storms behave when they come ashore.
World's largest aerosol sensing network has leafy origins
Twenty years ago, Brent Holben was part of a NASA team studying vegetation from space. In an unlikely career twist, his research morphed into the study of a critical, if overlooked, subplot in the story of climate change.
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