Schneider David P, Steig Eric J
Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Aug 26;105(34):12154-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0803627105. Epub 2008 Aug 12.
Although the 20th Century warming of global climate is well known, climate change in the high-latitude Southern Hemisphere (SH), especially in the first half of the century, remains poorly documented. We present a composite of water stable isotope data from high-resolution ice cores from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This record, representative of West Antarctic surface temperature, shows extreme positive anomalies in the 1936-45 decade that are significant in the context of the background 20th Century warming trend. We interpret these anomalies--previously undocumented in the high-latitude SH--as indicative of strong teleconnections in part driven by the major 1939-42 El Niño. These anomalies are coherent with tropical sea-surface temperature, mean SH air temperature, and North Pacific sea-level pressure, underscoring the sensitivity of West Antarctica's climate, and potentially its ice sheet, to large-scale changes in the global climate.
尽管20世纪全球气候变暖广为人知，但南半球高纬度地区（SH）的气候变化，尤其是在本世纪上半叶，资料仍记载甚少。我们展示了来自西南极冰盖高分辨率冰芯的水稳定同位素数据的综合情况。这一记录代表了西南极表面温度，显示出1936 - 1945十年间的极端正异常，在20世纪背景变暖趋势下具有显著意义。我们将这些此前在南半球高纬度地区未被记录的异常解释为，部分由1939 - 1942年主要厄尔尼诺事件驱动的强烈遥相关的表现。这些异常与热带海表温度、南半球平均气温以及北太平洋海平面气压一致，突显了西南极气候及其冰盖对全球气候大规模变化的敏感性。
