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Cardiac fibrillation of the climate
February 17, 2009Rapid decadal climate change before the start of the Holocene
15.02.2009 | Potsdam: In the current issue of the Scientific Journal Nature Geoscience a group of Norwegian, Swiss and German geoscientists prove that before the set-in of the Holocene very rapid climate changes already existed. The transition from the stable cold period took place about 12 150 to 11 700 years ago with very rapid fluctations up to the temperatur-threshold at which the Holocene began.
For this study, a group of scientists around J. Bakke, University of Bergen, examined sediments from Lake Kråkenes in Southwest Norway. These micro-layered lake deposits constitute a particularly suitable geological archive, with which scientists are able to analyse the climate volatility. The geochemical determination of titanium in sediments shows that during this phase significant short-term fluctuations in the titanium concentrations in the lake are detectable.
"We ascribe this to the short-term fluctuations in watermelt runoff from the inland glacier which feeds this lake", explains Professor Gerald Haug from the DFG Leibniz Center for Earth Surface Process and Climate Studies at the University of Potsdam and the ETH Zürich, who carried out the analysis together with his colleague, Peter Dulkski, from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. "The fluctuating glacialmelt is a result of the intermittent advancement of the Gulf Stream and the resulting successive retreat of the sea-ice coverage."
This process is closely linked with an equally high-frequence change in the westwind system and the therewith connected heat transport to Europe. This cardiac fibrillation of the climate is reflected again, as shown, in the fast-varying meltwater runoff into the examined lake, which at this point in time actually lay at the most climate-sensitive location of Europe, namely there where the Gulf Stream and the sea-ice coverage transformed.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
"We ascribe this to the short-term fluctuations in watermelt runoff from the inland glacier which feeds this lake", explains Professor Gerald Haug from the DFG Leibniz Center for Earth Surface Process and Climate Studies at the University of Potsdam and the ETH Zürich, who carried out the analysis together with his colleague, Peter Dulkski, from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. "The fluctuating glacialmelt is a result of the intermittent advancement of the Gulf Stream and the resulting successive retreat of the sea-ice coverage."
This process is closely linked with an equally high-frequence change in the westwind system and the therewith connected heat transport to Europe. This cardiac fibrillation of the climate is reflected again, as shown, in the fast-varying meltwater runoff into the examined lake, which at this point in time actually lay at the most climate-sensitive location of Europe, namely there where the Gulf Stream and the sea-ice coverage transformed.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Climate Change Current Events and Climate Change News RSSPast regional cold and warm periods linked to natural climate drivers
Intervals of regional warmth and cold in the past are linked to the El Niño phenomenon and the so-called "North Atlantic Oscillation" in the Northern hemisphere's jet stream, according to a team of climate scientists. These linkages may be important in assessing the regional effects of future climate change.
Peat fires drive temperatures up
Peatlands, especially those in tropical regions, sequester gigantic amounts of organic carbon. Human activities are now having a considerable impact on these wetlands.
Traditional indigenous fire management techniques deployed against climate change
A landmark Australian project that mitigates the extent and severity of natural savannah blazes by deploying traditional Indigenous fire management techniques is being hailed as a model with vast global potential in the fights against climate change and biodiversity loss, and for protecting Indigenous lands and culture.
Caltech scientists explain puzzling lake asymmetry on Titan
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of lakes over the northern and southern polar regions of the planet's largest moon, Titan.
Making sense of greenhouse gas accounting
Waste management is increasingly gaining the recognition that it deserves as a major contributor to mitigating climate change.
Climate change could boost incidence of civil war in Africa
Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent within the next two decades.
We're off then: the evolution of bat migration
Not just birds, but also a few species of bats face a long journey every year. Researchers at Princeton University in the U.S. and at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany studied the migratory behaviour of the largest extant family of bats, the so-called "Vespertilionidae" with the help of mathematical models.
Researchers establish common seasonal pattern among bacterial communities in Arctic rivers
New research on bacterial communities throughout six large Arctic river ecosystems reveals predictable temporal patterns, suggesting that scientists could use these communities as markers for monitoring climate change in the polar regions.
Flax and yellow flowers can produce bioethanol
Surplus biomass from the production of flax shives, and generated from Brassica carinata, a yellow-flowered plant related to those which engulf fields in spring, can be used to produce bioethanol.
Aquatic creatures mix ocean water
Understanding mixing in the ocean is of fundamental importance to modeling climate change or predicting the effects of an El Niño on our weather. Modern ocean models primarily incorporate the effects of winds and tides. However, they do not generally take into account the mixing generated by swimming animals.
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