science activities

focus 2 regional climate dynamics

holocene

Holocene research has also focused on the regional climate responses to slowly varying changes in the climate system, particularly the amplification of the seasonal insolation cycle. Proxy data, for example, record the influence of the northern hemisphere summer insolation maximum in the early Holocene on the Arctic sea-ice cover, vegetation and fire regimes, mountain glacier size, and subtropical monsoon strength. In contrast, parts of the tropics appear to have been colder during the early Holocene. On multidecadal-to-multicentennial timescales, it remains ambiguous whether stationary climate cycles exist and how climatic and environmental variability relate to solar and volcanic forcing, sea ice, and ocean thermohaline circulation changes (Wanner et al., 2008).

working groups

The PAGES-CLIVAR Intersection is a cross-program initiative between PAGES and CLIVAR and covers 3 Themes within Focus 2. The activities of PAGES-CLIVAR are relevant to the Themes Holocene, Last 2 millennia, and Reconstruction Methods.

References

Wanner, H. et al., 2008: Mid to late Holocene climate change – an overview. Submitted to Quat. Sci. Rev.