Blog Archive

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Anja Eichler et al., Temperature response in the Altai region lags solar forcing

Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L01808; doi:10.1029/2008GL035930.

Temperature response in the Altai region lags solar forcing

Anja Eichler1,2, Susanne Olivier1,3, Keith Henderson1, Andreas Laube1, Jürg Beer4, Tatyana Papina5, Heinz W. Gäggeler1,3 and Margit Schwikowski1,2

1Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.

2Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

3Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

4Department of Surface Waters, EAWAG, Dübendorf, Switzerland.

5Institute for Water and Environmental Problems, Barnaul, Russia.

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.

(Received 6 September 2008; accepted 5 December 2008; published 15 January 2009.)

Eichler, A., S. Olivier, K. Henderson, A. Laube, J. Beer, T. Papina, H. W. Gäggeler, and M. Schwikowski (2009), Temperature response in the Altai region lags solar forcing, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L01808, doi:10.1029/2008GL035930.

Link to abstract: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2008GL035930.shtml

No comments: