A study of dust from southeastern Iran, covering the time between 19,000 and 7,000 years ago, finds that frequent dust plumes from the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa are correlated with rapid southward shifts of westerly winds during North Atlantic cooling events, and suggests that North American ice sheets exerted a stronger influence over the climate of West Asia, compared with European ice sheets.
Article #20-04071: "Elevated dust depositions in West Asia linked to ocean-atmosphere shifts during North Atlantic cold events," by Reza Safaierad et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mahyar Mohtadi, MARUM, University of Bremen, GERMANY; e-mail: mmohtadi@marum.de
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences