Article: "Timing of Millenial-Scale Climate Change in Antarctica and Greenland During the Last Glacial Period."
- Presents Greenland and Antarctica chronology of temperature over 90,000 years.
- Seven major warmings in Antarctica preceded warmings in Greenland by 1500-3000 years.
Source: Science, Volume 291, Number 5501.
Date: 2001 January 5
|
Article: "Synchronous Tropical South China Sea Surface Temperature and Greenland Warming During Deglaciation."
Sea surface temperature records from tropical South China Sea show abrupt temperature increase at the end of the last glacial period, synchronous with warming observed 14,600 years ago on Greenland.
Source: Science, Volume 291, Number 5511.
Date: 2001 March 16
|
Article: "The Evolution of Climate Over the last Millenium."
- The instrumental record (1850+) is not long enough to give complete picture of climatic variability.
- Northern Hemisphere instrument data shows that since 1861, winters have warmed nearly 0.8oC, summers warmed 0.4oC, in two phases, 1920-1945, 1975-present.
- Southern Hemisphere instrument data does not show the 1945-1975 cooling of the Northern Hemisphere.
- Antarctic instrument data shows temperature rise to the early 1970s, then little change to the present.
Source: Science, Volume 292, Number 5517.
Date: 2001 April 27
|
Article: "Interpretation of High Projections for Global-Mean Warming."
Ninety percent probability interval for 1990-2100 warming is 1.7-4.9 degrees C, based on climate model simulators from 1765-2100, in absence of policies to limit climate change.
Source: Science, Volume 293, Number 5529.
Date: 2001 July 20
|
Article: "Low-Frequency Signals in Long Tree-Ring Chronologies for Reconstructing Past Temperature Variability."
- Tree-ring chronologies can preserve coherent large-scale multicentennial temperature trends.
- These chronologies support large-scale occurrence of Medieval Warming Period over the Northern Hemisphere extratropics centered at 1000 AD.
- Strong evidence for below-average temperature over much of 1200-1850 AD.
- The 1000- to 2000-year climate rhythm in the North Atlantic ocean may be cause of multicentennial variations.
Source: Science, Volume 295, Number 5563.
Date: 2002 March 22
|
Article: "Interpretation of Recent Southern Hemisphere Climate Change."
- Ozone losses and increased greenhouse gasses over Antarctica have increased the westerly flow of the circumpolar vortex.
- This increased flow is contributing substantially to warming over Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonia, and cooling over eastern Antarctica and Antarctic plateau.
Source: Science, Volume 296, Number 5569.
Date: 2002 May 3
|
Article: "Early Warming of Tropical South America at the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition."
- Deglaciation in tropical Andes led warming at high northern latitudes by over 5000 years.
Source: Science, Volume 296, Number 5573.
Date: 2002 May 31
|
Article: "Climatic Control of the High-Latitude Vegetation Greening Trend and Pinatubo Effect."
- Gradual lengthening of growing season in high northern latitudes has resulted in greening trend.
- Following Mount Pinatubo volcano eruption in 1991, trend was interrupted, producing increased carbon sink, contributing to slowdown in global rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide growth.
Source: Science, Volume 296, Number 5573.
Date: 2002 May 31
|
Article: "Rapid Changes in Flowering Time in British Plants."
- Average first flowering date of 385 British plant species advanced by 4.5 days during past decade (1991-2000) compared with 1954-1990.
- Evolutionary consequences may be developing, due to flowering synchronisity (hybridization), and reduced synchronisity.
Source: Science, Volume 296, Number 5573.
Date: 2002 May 31
|
Article: "Rapid Bottom Melting Widespread near Antarctic Ice Sheet Grounding Lines."
- Bottom melt rates of large outlet glaciers from continental Antarctic are far higher than previously assumed.
- Melting rate positively correlated with thermal forcing, increasing by 1 metre per year for each 0.1 degree Celcius rise in ocean temperature.
Source: Science, Volume 296, Number 5575.
Date: 2002 June 14
|
Article: "Surface Melt-Induced Acceleration of Greenland Ice-Sheet Flow."
- Glacial sliding is enhanced by rapid migration of surface meltwater to the ice-bedrock interface.
- Surface melting and ice-sheet flow cause rapid, large-scale response to climate warming.
Source: Science, Volume 297, Number 5579.
Date: 2002 July 12
|
Article: "Super ENSO and Global Climate Oscillations at Millenial Time Scales."
- Since last glacial maximum, 22,000 years ago, sea surface temperatures of tropical Pacific ocean have warmed about 2 degrees Celcius (summer) and 3 degrees (winter).
- Variability of tropical Pacific temperature over past glacial period (22,000 years ago to 64,000 years ago) average 1-2 degrees celcius.
- In western tropical Pacific, ocean was saltier through much of past 70,000 years than today.
- Millennial-scale El Nino-like conditions may have shifted atmospheric convection away from west tropical Pacific, explaining lower atmospheric carbon dioxide, N2O, and methane during stadial periods.
Source: Science, Volume 297, Number 5579.
Date: 2002 July 12
|
Article: "Subtropical Arctic Ocean temperatures during the Palaeocene/Eocene thermal maximum."
- 55 million years ago was brief period of widespread, extreme climatic warming, with massive atmospheric climatic warming, with massive atmospheric greenhouse gas input.
- Sea surface temperatures near the North Pole increased from 18 degrees C to 23C during this event, implying an absence of ice, excluding influence of ice-albedo feedback on Arctic warming.
- Derived temperatures are 10 degrees C warmer than model predictions, suggesting other feedback mechanism must have been present, and are not currently incorporated in models.
Source: Nature, Volume 441, Number 7093.
Date: 2006 June 1
|
Article: "Near-Synchronous Interhemispheric Termination of the Last Glacial Maximum in Mid-Latitudes."
- End of last glacial period initiated globally, with onset of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
- Global summer warming (17,000 to 19,000 years ago) may have destabilized Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, triggering iceberg discharge into North Atlantic.
- Fresh water input to Atlantic slowed the meridional overturning circulation, giving North Atlantic hypercold winters.
Source: Science, Volume 312, Number 5779.
Date: 2006 June 9
|
Article: "The importance of the diurnal and annual cycle of air traffic for contrail radiative forcing."
- Air traffic condensation trails (contrails) have a small net atmospheric warming effect, trapping more outgoing longwave radiation than reflecting incoming solar radiation.
- Nighttime flights for a site in southeast England account for 25 percent of daily air traffic, but contribute 60-80 percent of contrail forcing.
- Winter (December to February) flights are 22 percent of traffic, but contribute 50 percent to annual mean contrail forcing.
- Shifting air traffic from night to day would minimize climate effect of contrails.
Source: Nature, Volume 441, Number 7095.
Date: 2006 June 15
|
Article: "Permafrost and the Global Carbon Budget."
- Climate warming will thaw permafrost, releasing trapped carbon, about 100 gigatons.
- The Earth's atmosphere presently contains about 730 gigatons of carbon.
Source: Science, Volume 312, Number 5780.
Date: 2006 June 16
|
Article: "Methane bubbling from Siberian thaw lakes as a positive feedback to climate warming."
- As Siberian thaw lakes continue to expand, methane emissions increase, a feedback to climate warming.
Source: Nature, Volume 443, Number 7107.
Date: 2006 September 7
|
Article: "Variations in solar luminosity and their effect on the Earth's climate."
Total solar irradiance fluctuations measured by satellite over past 30 years are too small to have contributed appreciably to accelerated global warming.
Source: Nature, Volume 443, Number 7108.
Date: 2006 September 14
|
Article: "Land-atmosphere coupling and climate change in Europe."
- Predicted increases in summer temperature variability in central and eastern Europe is mainly due to feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere.
- Enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations lead to a northwards shift of climate zones within the European continent.
Source: Nature, Volume 443, Number 7108.
Date: 2006 September 14
|
Article: "Satellite Gravity Measurements Confirm Accelerated melting of Greenland Ice Sheet."
- Greenland ice melted at about 240 cubic kilometres per year from April 2002 to November 2005.
Source: Science, Volume 313, Number 5795.
Date: 2006 September 29
|
Article: "The Impact of Boreal Forest Fire on Climate Warming."
- Short term (first year) effect of boreal forest fire is increased radiative forcing 34 Watts per metre squared of burned area.
- Long term effect is decreased forcing by -2.3 Watts per square metre when averaged over 80 year fire cycle.
- Future increases in boreal fire may not accelerate climate warming.
Source: Science, Volume 314, Number 5802.
Date: 2006 November 17
|
Article: "Climate Change Affects marine Fishes Through the Oxygen Limitation of Thermal Tolerance."
- Warming oceans will cause extinction or relocation to cooler waters of some fish species.
Source: Science, Volume 315, Number 5808.
Date: 2007 January 5
|
Article: "A Semi-Empirical Approach to Projecting Future Sea-Level Rise."
- The rate of sea-level rise is roughly proportional to the magnitude of warming of near-surface air temperature since pre-Industrial Age.
- Rate constant at 3.4mm/year per degree Celcius.
- Sea-level rise by year 2100 over 1990 level is projected to be 0.5 to 1.4 mm.
Source: Science, Volume 315, Number 5810.
Date: 2007 January 19
|
Article: "Climate sensitivity constrained by CO2 concentrations over the past 420 millon years."
- Most estimates of climate sensitivity are based on records of climate change over the past few decades to thousands of years, and may not be applicable to climate change under warmer conditions of the future.
- Based on modelling CO2 over 420 million years, climate sensitivity from weak long-term radiative forcing by CO2 is greater than 1.5 degrees C.
Source: Nature, Volume 446, Number 7135.
Date: 2007 March 29
|
Article: "Observational evidence for an ocean heat pump induced by tropical cyclones."
- Ocean mixing is linked to ocean's ability to store and transport heat.
- Measured mixing rates are significantly lower than those inferred from budget analyses.
- Tropical cyclones are responsible for significant cooling and vertical mixing of surface ocean in tropical regions.
- Magnitude of mixing strongly related to sea surface temperature.
- Future increases in tropical temperatures may feed back on climate, distribute heat pole-ward, raise global mean temperature.
Source: Nature, Volume 447, Number 7144.
Date: 2007 May 31
|