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      Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years

      Turney, Chris S.M.; Jones, Richard T.; Lister, David; Jones, Phil; Williams, Alan N.; Hogg, Alan G.; Thomas, Zoë A.; Compo, Gibert P.; Yin, Xungang; Fogwill, Christopher J.; Palmer, Jonathan; Colwell, Steve; Allan, Rob; Visbeck, Martin
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      2016 turney jones lister williams hogg thomas compo yin fogwill palmer colwell, allan visbeck Environmental Research Letters.pdf
      Published version, 2.719Mb
      DOI
       10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009
      Link
       iopscience.iop.org
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      Turney, C. S. M., Jones, R. T., Lister, D., Jones, P., Williams, A. N., Hogg, A. G., … Visbeck, M. (2016). Anomalous mid-twentieth century atmospheric circulation change over the South Atlantic compared to the last 6000 years. Environmental Research Letters, 11(6), 064009–064009. http://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/6/064009
      Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10464
      Abstract
      Determining the timing and impact of anthropogenic climate change in data-sparse regions is a considerable challenge. Arguably, nowhere is this more difficult than the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic South Atlantic where observational records are relatively short but where high rates of warming have been experienced since records began. Here we interrogate recently developed monthly-resolved observational datasets from the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and extend the records back using climate-sensitive peat growth over the past 6000 years. Investigating the subantarctic climate data with ERA-Interim and Twentieth Century Reanalysis, we find that a stepped increase in precipitation across the 1940s is related to a change in synoptic atmospheric circulation: a westward migration of quasi-permanent positive pressure anomalies in the South Atlantic has brought the subantarctic islands under the increased influence of meridional airflow associated with the Amundsen Sea Low. Analysis of three comprehensively multi-dated (using 14C and 137Cs) peat sequences across the two islands demonstrates unprecedented growth rates since the mid-twentieth century relative to the last 6000 years. Comparison to observational and reconstructed sea surface temperatures suggests this change is linked to a warming tropical Pacific Ocean. Our results imply ‘modern’ South Atlantic atmospheric circulation has not been under this configuration for millennia.
      Date
      2016
      Type
      Journal Article
      Publisher
      IOP Publishing Ltd
      Rights
      This article is published under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence.
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      • Science and Engineering Papers [3073]
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