Central Mediterranean rainfall varied with high northern latitude temperatures during the last deglaciation
Type | Article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | 2022-08 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Author(s) | Columbu Andrea1, 2, Spötl Christoph3, Fohlmeister Jens4, Hu Hsun-Ming5, 6, Chiarini Veronica7, Hellstrom John8, Cheng Hai9, Shen Chuan-Chou5, 6, de Waele Jo7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Affiliation(s) | 1 : Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability. Earth Sciences Division, University of Parma, Parma, Italy 2 : Department of Earth Sciences, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy 3 : Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria 4 : German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), Berlin, Germany 5 : High-Precision Mass Spectrometry and Environment Change Laboratory (HISPEC), Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan ROC 6 : Research Center for Future Earth, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan ROC 7 : Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy 8 : School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia 9 : Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China |
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Source | Communications Earth & Environment (2662-4435) (Springer Science and Business Media LLC), 2022-08 , Vol. 3 , N. 1 , P. 181 (9p.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DOI | 10.1038/s43247-022-00509-3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
WOS© Times Cited | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Abstract | Similarly to the effects of current climate change, the last deglaciation (Termination I) rapidly altered northern latitude temperatures and ice-sheet extent, as well as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. However, it is still unclear how these changes propagated and impacted the central Mediterranean continental rainfall variability. This prevents a full understanding on how global warming will affect Mediterranean areas in the future. Here, we present a high-resolution reconstruction of rainfall changes in the central Mediterranean across Termination I, based on a novel δ18O time series from a southern Italian stalagmite. Across Termination I the availability of Atlantic moisture varied in response to northern latitude temperature increases (decreases) and ice-sheet decreases (increases), promoting a higher (lower) intensity of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, and resulting in a relatively wetter (drier) climate in the Mediterranean. In the light of future warming, this study emphasises the role of high-latitude climate changes in causing rainfall variation in highly populated Mediterranean areas. |
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