1
|
Chen J, Zhang Q, Lu Z, Duan Y, Cao X, Huang J, Chen F. Reconciling East Asia's mid-Holocene temperature discrepancy through vegetation-climate feedback. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2024:S2095-9273(24)00246-9. [PMID: 38693017 DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
The term "Holocene temperature conundrum" refers to the inconsistencies between proxy-based reconstructions and transient model simulations, and it challenges our understanding of global temperature evolution during the Holocene. Climate reconstructions indicate a cooling trend following the Holocene Thermal Maximum, while model simulations indicate a consistent warming trend due to ice-sheet retreat and rising greenhouse gas concentrations. Various factors, such as seasonal biases and overlooked feedback processes, have been proposed as potential causes for this discrepancy. In this study, we examined the impact of vegetation-climate feedback on the temperature anomaly patterns in East Asia during the mid-Holocene (∼6 ka). By utilizing the fully coupled Earth system model EC-Earth and performing simulations with and without coupled dynamic vegetation, our objective was to isolate the influence of vegetation changes on regional temperature patterns. Our findings reveal that vegetation-climate feedback contributed to warming across most of East Asia, resulting in spatially diverse temperature changes during the mid-Holocene and significantly improved model-data agreement. These results highlight the crucial role of vegetation-climate feedback in addressing the Holocene temperature conundrum and emphasize its importance for simulating accurate climate scenarios.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jie Chen
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Qiong Zhang
- Department of Physical Geography and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, Stockholm 10691, Sweden.
| | - Zhengyao Lu
- Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund 22100, Sweden
| | - Yanwu Duan
- Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITPCAS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xianyong Cao
- Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITPCAS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China
| | - Jianping Huang
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Fahu Chen
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITPCAS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100101, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Xiang L, Huang X, Sun M, Panizzo VN, Huang C, Zheng M, Chen X, Chen F. Prehistoric population expansion in Central Asia promoted by the Altai Holocene Climatic Optimum. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3102. [PMID: 37248221 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38828-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023] Open
Abstract
How climate change in the middle to late Holocene has influenced the early human migrations in Central Asian Steppe remains poorly understood. To address this issue, we reconstructed a multiproxy-based Holocene climate history from the sediments of Kanas Lake and neighboring Tiewaike Lake in the southern Altai Mountains. The results show an exceptionally warm climate during ~6.5-3.6 kyr is indicated by the silicon isotope composition of diatom silica (δ30Sidiatom) and the biogenic silica (BSi) content. During 4.7-4.3 kyr, a peak in δ30Sidiatom reflects enhanced lake thermal stratification and periodic nutrient limitation as indicated by concomitant decreasing BSi content. Our geochemical results indicate a significantly warm and wet climate in the Altai Mountain region during 6.5-3.6 kyr, corresponding to the Altai Holocene Climatic Optimum (AHCO), which is critical for promoting prehistoric human population expansion and intensified cultural exchanges across the Central Asian steppe during the Bronze Age.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lixiong Xiang
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China
| | - Xiaozhong Huang
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China.
| | - Mingjie Sun
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China
- Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Virginia N Panizzo
- Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK.
| | - Chong Huang
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China
| | - Min Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, China
| | - Xuemei Chen
- Northwest Institute of Eco-Environmental and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 730000, Lanzhou, China
| | - Fahu Chen
- Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation Group (ALPHA), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), 100101, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Kaufman DS, Broadman E. Revisiting the Holocene global temperature conundrum. Nature 2023; 614:425-435. [PMID: 36792734 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05536-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Recent global temperature reconstructions for the current interglacial period (the Holocene, beginning 11,700 years ago) have generated contrasting trends. This Review examines evidence from indicators and drivers of global change, as inferred from proxy records and simulated by climate models, to evaluate whether anthropogenic global warming was preceded by a long-term warming trend or by global cooling. Multimillennial-scale cooling before industrialization requires extra climate forcing and major climate feedbacks that are not well represented in most climate models at present. Conversely, global warming before industrialization challenges proxy-based reconstructions of past climate. The resolution of this conundrum has implications for contextualizing post-industrial warming and for understanding climate sensitivity to several forcings and their attendant feedbacks, including greenhouse gases. From a large variety of available evidence, we find support for a relatively mild millennial-scale global thermal maximum during the mid-Holocene, but more research is needed to firmly resolve the conundrum and to advance our understanding of slow-moving climate variability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Darrell S Kaufman
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
| | - Ellie Broadman
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
- Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zhao C, Rohling EJ, Liu Z, Yang X, Zhang E, Cheng J, Liu Z, An Z, Yang X, Feng X, Sun X, Zhang C, Yan T, Long H, Yan H, Yu Z, Liu W, Yu SY, Shen J. Possible obliquity-forced warmth in southern Asia during the last glacial stage. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2021; 66:1136-1145. [PMID: 36654347 DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.11.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Orbital-scale global climatic changes during the late Quaternary are dominated by high-latitude influenced ~100,000-year global ice-age cycles and monsoon influenced ~23,000-year low-latitude hydroclimate variations. However, the shortage of highly-resolved land temperature records remains a limiting factor for achieving a comprehensive understanding of long-term low-latitude terrestrial climatic changes. Here, we report paired mean annual air temperature (MAAT) and monsoon intensity proxy records over the past 88,000 years from Lake Tengchongqinghai in southwestern China. While summer monsoon intensity follows the ~23,000-year precession beat found also in previous studies, we identify previously unrecognized warm periods at 88,000-71,000 and 45,000-22,000 years ago, with 2-3 °C amplitudes that are close to our recorded full glacial-interglacial range. Using advanced transient climate simulations and comparing with forcing factors, we find that these warm periods in our MAAT record probably depends on local annual mean insolation, which is controlled by Earth's ~41,000-year obliquity cycles and is anti-phased to annual mean insolation at high latitudes. The coincidence of our identified warm periods and intervals of high-frequent dated archaeological evidence highlights the importance of temperature on anatomically modern humans in Asia during the last glacial stage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Eelco J Rohling
- Research School of Earth Sciences, the Australian National University, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia; Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
| | - Zhengyu Liu
- Department of Geography, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA
| | - Xiaoqiang Yang
- Department of Earth Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Enlou Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China
| | - Jun Cheng
- Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Ministry of Education (KLME)/Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change (ILCEC)/Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
| | - Zhonghui Liu
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Zhisheng An
- Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China
| | - Xiangdong Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Xiaoping Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Xiaoshuang Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Can Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Tianlong Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
| | - Hao Long
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China
| | - Hong Yan
- Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China
| | - Zicheng Yu
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem 18015, USA; Institute for Peat and Mire Research, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
| | - Weiguo Liu
- Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China; State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China
| | - Shi-Yong Yu
- School of Geography, Geomatics, and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
| | - Ji Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China; School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| |
Collapse
|