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Updated: Dec 6, 2025
10:28
Investigating the Relationship between Sea Surface Chlorophyll and Major Features of the South China Sea with Satellite Information
Published on: June 13, 2020
6.2K
Annually resolved Atlantic sea surface temperature variability over the past 2,900 y
Francois Lapointe1,2, Raymond S Bradley3, Pierre Francus2,4
1Climate System Research Center, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003; flapointe@umass.edu.
Summary
This study reconstructs Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) over 3,000 years using High-Arctic sediment data. Results show the coldest North Atlantic sea surface temperatures occurred from 1400-1800 CE, with current temperatures being the warmest in nearly three millennia.
Area of Science:
- Paleoclimatology
- Climate Science
- Oceanography
Background:
- Global warming is influenced by natural climate oscillations, particularly Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV).
- The instrumental record for AMV is limited, hindering understanding of its long-term behavior.
- Reconstructing past AMV is crucial for contextualizing current climate change.
Observation:
- An annually laminated sedimentary record from Ellesmere Island, Canada, provides annually resolved titanium data.
- This High-Arctic proxy record is strongly influenced by AMV through atmospheric circulation anomalies.
- Correlations with other Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) proxies confirm shared multidecadal variability.
Findings:
- A 3,000-year, high-resolution reconstruction of AMV was developed.
- North Atlantic SSTs were coldest during the period of approximately 1400-1800 CE.
- Current North Atlantic SSTs are the warmest observed in the past 2,900 years.
Implications:
- This long-term AMV reconstruction provides valuable context for anthropogenic global warming.
- Understanding past climate variability aids in refining climate models and future projections.
- The findings highlight significant natural fluctuations in North Atlantic SSTs over millennia.
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