scholarly journals A chironomid-based record of temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China and its possible societal implications

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haipeng Wang ◽  
Jianhui Chen ◽  
Shengda Zhang ◽  
David D. Zhang ◽  
Zongli Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Change ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Cold Event ◽  
The Past

Abstract. Long-term, high-resolution temperature records which combine an unambiguous proxy and precise dating are rare in China. In addition, the societal implications of past temperature change on a regional scale have not been sufficiently assessed. Here, based on the modern relationship between chironomids and temperature, we use fossil chironomid assemblages in a precisely dated sediment core from Gonghai Lake to explore temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China. Subsequently, we address the possible regional societal implications of temperature change through a statistical analysis of the occurrence of wars. Our results show the following. (1) The mean annual temperature (TANN) was relatively high during 4000–2700 cal yr BP, decreased gradually during 2700–1270 cal yr BP and then fluctuated during the last 1270 years. (2) A cold event in the Period of Disunity, the Sui-Tang Warm Period (STWP), the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) can all be recognized in the paleotemperature record, as well as in many other temperature reconstructions in China. This suggests that our chironomid-inferred temperature record for the Gonghai Lake region is representative. (3) Local wars in Shanxi Province, documented in the historical literature during the past 2700 years, are statistically significantly correlated with changes in temperature, and the relationship is a good example of the potential societal implications of temperature change on a regional scale.

scholarly journals A chironomid-based record of temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China and its possible societal implications

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haipeng Wang ◽  
Jianhui Chen ◽  
Shengda Zhang ◽  
David D. Zhang ◽  
Zongli Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Change ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Temperature Record ◽  
The Past

Abstract. Long-term, high-resolution temperature records which combine an unambiguous proxy and precise dating are rare in China. In addition, the societal implications of past temperature change on regional scale have not been sufficiently assessed. Here, based on the modern relationship between chironomids and temperature, we use fossil chironomid assemblages in a precisely-dated sediment core from Gonghai Lake to explore temperature variability during the past 4000 years in northern China. Subsequently, we address the possible regional societal implications of temperature change through a statistical analysis of the occurrence of wars. Our results show that: (1) the mean annual temperature (TANN) was relatively high from 4000–2700 cal yr BP, decreased gradually from 2700–1270 cal yr BP, and then fluctuated drastically during the last 1270 years. (2) A cold climatic event in the Era of Disunity, the Sui-Tang Warm Period (STWP), the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) can all be recognized in the paleotemperature record, as well as in many other temperature reconstructions in China. This suggests that our chironomid-inferred temperature record for the Gonghai Lake region is representative. (3) Local wars in Shanxi Province, documented in the historical literature during the past 2700 years, are statistically significantly correlated with changes in temperature, and the relationship is a good example of the potential societal implications of temperature change on a regional scale.

scholarly journals Episodic Neoglacial expansion and rapid 20th century retreat of a small ice cap on Baffin Island, Arctic Canada, and modeled temperature change

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1527-1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Pendleton ◽  
Gifford H. Miller ◽  
Robert A. Anderson ◽  
Sarah E. Crump ◽  
Yafang Zhong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Change ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Climate Model Simulations ◽  
Glacier Advance

Abstract. Records of Neoglacial glacier activity in the Arctic constructed from moraines are often incomplete due to a preservation bias toward the most extensive advance, often the Little Ice Age. Recent warming in the Arctic has caused extensive retreat of glaciers over the past several decades, exposing preserved landscapes complete with in situ tundra plants previously entombed by ice. The radiocarbon ages of these plants define the timing of snowline depression and glacier advance across the site, in response to local summer cooling. Erosion rapidly removes most dead plants that have been recently exposed by ice retreat, but where erosive processes are unusually weak, dead plants may remain preserved on the landscape for decades. In such settings, a transect of plant radiocarbon ages can be used to construct a near-continuous chronology of past ice margin advance. Here we present radiocarbon dates from the first such transect on Baffin Island, which directly dates the advance of a small ice cap over the past two millennia. The nature of ice expansion between 20 BCE and ∼ 1000 CE is still uncertain, but episodic advances at ∼ 1000 CE, ∼ 1200, and  ∼ 1500 led to the maximum Neoglacial dimensions ~ 1900 CE. We employ a two-dimensional numerical glacier model calibrated using the plant radiocarbon ages ice margin chronology to assess the sensitivity of the ice cap to temperature change. Model experiments show that at least ∼ 0.44 °C of cooling over the past 2 kyr is required for the ice cap to reach its 1900 CE margin, and that the period from ∼ 1000 to 1900 CE must have been at least 0.25° C cooler than the previous millennium, results that agree with regional temperature reconstructions and climate model simulations. However, significant warming since 1900 CE is required to explain retreat to its present position, and, at the same rate of warming, the ice cap will disappear before 2100 CE.

Seasonal temperature variability during the past 1600 years recorded in historical documents and varved lake sediment profiles from northeastern China

The Holocene ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 785-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoqiang Chu ◽  
Qing Sun ◽  
Xiaohua Wang ◽  
Meimei Liu ◽  
Yuan Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Reconstruction ◽  
Northeastern China ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Historical Documents ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
Warm Winter ◽  
The Past ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Extreme Cold

Seasonal temperature variability over longer timescales could offer new insights into understanding different forcing factors and response processes in the climate system. Here we report an alkenone-based temperature reconstruction for growing season over the past 1600 years from the varved sediment in Lake Sihailongwan, northeastern China. The most notable cold spells occurred during the periods ad 480–860, ad 1260–1300, ad 1510–1570 and ad 1800–1900 with a temperature decrease of about 1°C compared with the 20th century. Based on the historical evidence such as ‘snow or frost in the summertime’ and ‘no ice during the wintertime’, we compile extreme cold summer events and warm winter events over the past 1600 years. The ‘Little Ice Age’ time period experienced more extreme cold summer/warm winter events, while the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ had milder winters. Comparatively, the natural proxy data show a general similar pattern with historical documents at decadal time scales, except for between ad 1620 and 1720. Our results show multidecadal to centennial variations in seasonal temperature, possibly caused by interactions of external natural forcing and atmosphere–ocean circulations.

scholarly journals Temperature changes over the past 2000 yr in China and comparison with the Northern Hemisphere

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1153-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Ge ◽  
Z. Hao ◽  
J. Zheng ◽  
X. Shao
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Principal Component Regression ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Temperature Variations ◽  
Temperature Changes ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
The Past

Abstract. We use principal component regression and partial least squares regression to separately reconstruct a composite series of temperature variations in China, and associated uncertainties, at a decadal resolution over the past 2000 yr. The reconstruction is developed using proxy temperature data with relatively high confidence levels from five regions across China, and using a temperature series from observations by the Chinese Meteorological Administration, covering the period from 1871 to 2000. Relative to the 1851–1950 climatology, our two reconstructions show four warm intervals during AD 1–AD 200, AD 551–AD 760, AD 951–AD 1320, and after AD 1921, and four cold intervals during AD 201–AD 350, AD 441–AD 530, AD 781–AD 950, and AD 1321–AD 1920. The temperatures during AD 981–AD 1100 and AD 1201–AD 1270 are comparable to those of the Present Warm Period, but have an uncertainty of ±0.28 °C to ±0.42 °C at the 95% confidence interval. Temperature variations over China are typically in phase with those of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) after 1000, a period which covers the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Little Ice Age, and the Present Warm Period. In contrast, a warm period in China during AD 541–AD 740 is not obviously seen in the NH.

scholarly journals Moisture Changes in the Northern Xinjiang Basin Over the Past 2400 years as Documented in Pollen Records of Jili Lake

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulin Xiao ◽  
Lixiong Xiang ◽  
Xiaozhong Huang ◽  
Keely Mills ◽  
Jun Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Northern Xinjiang ◽  
The Past ◽  
Climate Background

Regional humidity is important for terrestrial ecosystem development, while it differs from region to region in inland Asia, knowledge of past moisture changes in the lower basin of northern Xinjiang remainly largely unclear. Based on a pollen record from Jili Lake, the Artemisia/(Amaranthaceae + Ephedra) (Ar/(Am + E)) ratio, as an index of regional humidity, has recorded four relatively dry phases: 1) 400 BCE to 1 CE, 2) the Roman Warm Period (RWP; c. 1–400 CE), 3) the Medieval Warm Period (MWP; c. 850–1200 CE) and 4) the Current Warm Period (CWP; since 1850 CE). In contrast, the Dark Age Cold Period (DACP; c. 400–850 CE) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; c. 1200–1850 CE) were relatively wet. Lower lake levels in a relatively humid climate background indicated by higher aquatic pollen (Typha and Sparganium) after c. 1700 CE are likely the result of intensified irrigation for agriculture in the catchment as documented in historical records. The pollen Ar/(Am + E) ratio also recorded a millennial-scale wetting trend from 1 CE to 1550 CE which is concomitant with a long-term cooling recorded in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sudden climate transitions during the Quaternary

1999 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Adams ◽  
Mark Maslin ◽  
Ellen Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Cold Event ◽  
Heinrich Events ◽  
The Past ◽  
Eemian Interglacial ◽  
Climate Transitions

The time span of the past few million years has been punctuated by many rapid climate transitions, most of them on timescales of centuries to decades. The most detailed information is available for the Younger Dryas-to-Holocene stepwise change around 11 500 years ago, which seems to have occurred over a few decades. The speed of this change is probably representative of similar but less well studied climate transitions during the last few hundred thousand years. These include sudden cold events (Heinrich events/stadials), warm events (interstadials) and the beginning and ending of long warm phases, such as the Eemian interglacial. Detailed analysis of terrestrial and marine records of climate change will, however, be necessary before we can say confidently on what timescale these events occurred; they almost certainly did not take longer than a few centuries. Various mechanisms, involving changes in ocean circulation and biotic productivity, changes in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and haze particles, and changes in snow and ice cover, have been invoked to explain sudden regional and global transitions. We do not know whether such changes could occur in the near future as a result of human effects on climate. Phenomena such as the Younger Dryas and Heinrich events might only occur in a ‘glacial’ world with much larger ice sheets and more extensive sea-ice cover. A major sudden cold event, however, did probably occur under global climate conditions similar to those of the present, during the Eemian interglacial around 122 000 years ago. Less intensive, but significant rapid climate changes also occurred during the present (Holocene) interglacial, with cold and dry phases occurring on a 1500-year cycle, and with climate transitions on a decade-to-century timescale. In the past few centuries, smaller transitions (such as the ending of the Little Ice Age at about AD 1650) probably occurred over only a few decades at most. All evidence indicates that long-term climate change occurs in sudden jumps rather than incremental changes.

Dramatic weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon in northern China during the transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianghu Lan ◽  
Hai Xu ◽  
Yunchao Lang ◽  
Keke Yu ◽  
Peng Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Asian Summer Monsoon ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Medieval Warm Period ◽  
Warm Period ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Asian Summer

Abstract Changes in the intensity of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) are critical for regulating the regional hydrology, ecology, and human civilization, especially in the vicinity of the summer monsoon limit (SML). However, the detailed spatial variations of the SML in mainland China over the past 2000 years are uncertain due to the lack of high-resolution paleoclimate archives. As a result, the accurate location of the SML during the transition from the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) to the Little Ice Age (LIA), as well as its impacts on ecology and society, are poorly understood. Here, we report a potential location of the SML during the late Holocene by combining data from a lake sedimentary record and a compilation of paleoclimate records from arid northern China. We find that EASM intensity was strong during the MWP and that the SML in arid northern China was roughly located along the Yinshan Mountains, Yabulai Mountains, and north of Lake Qinghai. EASM intensity dramatically weakened during the MWP-LIA transition, and the SML retreated southeastward significantly, which may have primarily but nonlinearly been a response to the reduction in solar irradiance and its associated changes in atmospheric circulation (e.g., El Niño–Southern Oscillation and Siberian High) and could have had profound impacts on hydrology, ecology, and human civilization across northern monsoonal Asia.

scholarly journals Causes of Greenland temperature variability over the past 4000 yr: implications for northern hemispheric temperature change

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 4817-4883 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Kobashi ◽  
K. Kawamura ◽  
K. Goto-Azuma ◽  
J. E. Box ◽  
C.-C. Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Change ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Temperature Record ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
The Past ◽  
Hemispheric Temperature ◽  
Climate Forcings

Abstract. A new Greenland temperature record reconstructed from argon and nitrogen isotopes from trapped air in a GISP2 ice core, provides high-resolution (<20 yr) and precise annual average temperature estimates for the past 4000 yr. Due to tight age-controls and abundant paleoclimatic information from the ice core, the temperature record provides an exceptional opportunity to investigate the late Holocene climate in a multi-decadal to millennial time scale. To investigate causes of Greenland temperature variability over the past 4000 yr, we calculated high latitude (70–80° N) temperature change using a one-dimensional energy balance model with reconstructed climate forcings including orbital, solar, volcanic, and greenhouse gas forcings. Greenland temperature was calculated from the high latitude temperature, considering Greenland's negative temperature responses to solar variability due to associated changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulations. The calculated Greenland temperature was significantly correlated with the ice-core-derived Greenland temperatures with the 97% confidence level. Therefore, the past variability of climate forcings can explain at least 10% of the multi-decadal to millennial variability in Greenland temperature over the past 4000 yr. An average temperature trend for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) over the past 4000 yr was also inferred from the ice-core derived Greenland temperatures. Lines of evidence indicate that the current decadal average temperature of NH is likely warmer than at any time over the past 4000 yr. Sequential cooling events starting around 800 B.C.E. (the 2.8 ka event), which were induced by several large volcanic eruptions as well as low solar activity, had similar magnitude with the Little Ice Age cooling.

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