Rapid climate variability during warm and cold periods in polar regions and Europe

Valérie Masson-Delmotte (1, 2) , Amaelle Landais (1, 3, 2) , Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout (1, 2) , Ulrich von Grafenstein (1, 4, 2) , Jean Jouzel (1, 2) , Nicolas Caillon (1, 2) , Jérôme Chappellaz (5) , Dorthe Dahl-Jensen (6) , Sigfus J. Johnsen (6) , Barbara Stenni (7)

1 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
2 GLACCIOS - Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables
3 Institute of Earth Sciences
4 GEOTRAC - Géochrononologie Traceurs Archéométrie
5 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement
6 Geophysics and Water Resources
7 Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche [Trieste]

Typical rapid climate events punctuating the last glacial period in Greenland, Europe and Antarctica are compared to two rapid events occurring under warmer conditions: (i) Dansgaard–Oeschger event 25, the first abrupt warming occurring during last glacial inception; (ii) 8.2 ka BP event, the only rapid cooling recorded during the Holocene in Greenland ice cores and in Ammersee, Germany. The rate of warming during previous warmer interglacial periods is estimated from polar ice cores to 1.5 °C per millennium, without abrupt changes. Climate change expected for the 21st century should however be at least 10 times faster.

Keywords: Dansgaard–Oeschger events; Ice cores; Lake; Pollen; Palaeoclimate

Domains: Climatology

Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Amaelle Landais, Nathalie Combourieu-Nebout, Ulrich von Grafenstein, Jean Jouzel, et al.. Rapid climate variability during warm and cold periods in polar regions and Europe. Comptes Rendus Géoscience, 2005, 337 (10-11), pp.935 à 946. ⟨10.1016/j.crte.2005.04.001⟩. ⟨insu-00374866⟩