High resolution climate reconstructions of recent warming using instrumental and ice core records from coastal Antarctica

Abstract

In-situ observational record of Antarctic surface temperatures is rather sparse. Proxy based ice core studies are thus critical for reconstructing the past climate change on centennial and decadal time scales. The present study review the available instrumental and proxy records from the Dronning Maud Land region of East Antarctica as well as report recent evidences of Antarctic climate change and its global linkages. The monthly mean air temperature records of the Novolazarevskaya (Novo) station, which is the longest (since 1961) and continuous meteorological record in this region, revealed a significant warming trend at a rate of 0.25 °C / decade. To understand the spatial and temporal consistency of this warming, well-dated ice cores from the coastal Dronning Maud Land region were assessed. All proxy records consistently suggest an enhanced warming up to +0.12 °C / decade. This is further supported by a recent assessment of stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope proxy records from two high resolution ice cores (IND-25/B5 and IND-22/B4) from this region. Among these records, the IND-25/B5 provided ultra-high-resolution data for the past 100 years (1905-2005) and the IND-22/B4 core represented the past ~470 years (1530-2002) of Antarctic change. These ice records provided insights on the influence of solar forcing on Antarctic climate system as well as its linkages with the tropical and mid-latitude climatic modes like the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The calculated surface air temperatures using these records showed a warming by 0.06-0.1 °C / decade, with greatly enhanced warming during the past several decades (~0.4 °C / decade). It is confirmed that the coastal areas of Dronning Maud Land are indeed warming and the trend is apparently enhancing in the recent decades.