Split westerlies over Europe in the early Little Ice Age

Hsun Ming Hu; Chuan Chou Shen; John C.H. Chiang; Valerie Trouet; Véronique Michel; Hsien Chen Tsai; Patricia Valensi; Christoph Spötl; Elisabetta Starnini; Marta Zunino; Wei Yi Chien; Wen Hui Sung; Yu Tang Chien; Ping Chang; Robert Korty

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-32654-w

Split westerlies over Europe in the early Little Ice Age

Hsun Ming Hu, Chuan Chou Shen, John C.H. Chiang, Valerie Trouet, Véronique Michel, Hsien Chen Tsai, Patricia Valensi, Christoph Spötl, Elisabetta Starnini, Marta Zunino, Wei Yi Chien, Wen Hui Sung, Yu Tang Chien, Ping Chang, Robert Korty

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Little Ice Age (LIA; ca. 1450–1850 C.E.) is the best documented cold period of the past millennium, characterized by high-frequency volcanism, low solar activity, and high variability of Arctic sea-ice cover. Past studies of LIA Atlantic circulation changes have referenced the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), but recent studies have noted that LIA climate patterns appear to possess complexity not captured by an NAO analogue. Here, we present a new precipitation-sensitive stalagmite record from northern Italy that covers the past 800 years. We show that in the early LIA (1470–1610 C.E.), increased atmospheric ridging over northern Europe split the climatological westerlies away from central and northern Europe, possibly caused by concurrent Artic sea-ice reduction. With ongoing ice melting in the northern high latitudes and decreasing solar irradiance in the coming years, the early LIA may potentially serve as an analogue for European hydroclimatic conditions in the coming decades.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	4898
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32654-w
State	Published - Dec 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy(all)
Chemistry(all)
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)

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title = "Split westerlies over Europe in the early Little Ice Age",

abstract = "The Little Ice Age (LIA; ca. 1450–1850 C.E.) is the best documented cold period of the past millennium, characterized by high-frequency volcanism, low solar activity, and high variability of Arctic sea-ice cover. Past studies of LIA Atlantic circulation changes have referenced the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), but recent studies have noted that LIA climate patterns appear to possess complexity not captured by an NAO analogue. Here, we present a new precipitation-sensitive stalagmite record from northern Italy that covers the past 800 years. We show that in the early LIA (1470–1610 C.E.), increased atmospheric ridging over northern Europe split the climatological westerlies away from central and northern Europe, possibly caused by concurrent Artic sea-ice reduction. With ongoing ice melting in the northern high latitudes and decreasing solar irradiance in the coming years, the early LIA may potentially serve as an analogue for European hydroclimatic conditions in the coming decades.",

author = "Hu, {Hsun Ming} and Shen, {Chuan Chou} and Chiang, {John C.H.} and Valerie Trouet and V{\'e}ronique Michel and Tsai, {Hsien Chen} and Patricia Valensi and Christoph Sp{\"o}tl and Elisabetta Starnini and Marta Zunino and Chien, {Wei Yi} and Sung, {Wen Hui} and Chien, {Yu Tang} and Ping Chang and Robert Korty",

note = "Funding Information: We are thankful for the financial support provided by grants from the Science Vanguard Research Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (110−2123-M-002-009), the National Taiwan University (110L8907 to C.-C.S.), and the Higher Education Sprout Project of the Ministry of Education (110L901001 and 110L8907). H.-M.H. thanks the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and Dr. Ai-Ti Chen for providing useful and constructive comments. J.C.H.C. acknowledges support from a Visiting Professorship at Academia Sinica, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under grant number 110-2811-M-001-554. V.T. was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant (AGS-1349942). Funding Information: We are thankful for the financial support provided by grants from the Science Vanguard Research Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (110−2123-M-002-009), the National Taiwan University (110L8907 to C.-C.S.), and the Higher Education Sprout Project of the Ministry of Education (110L901001 and 110L8907). H.-M.H. thanks the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and Dr. Ai-Ti Chen for providing useful and constructive comments. J.C.H.C. acknowledges support from a Visiting Professorship at Academia Sinica, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under grant number 110-2811-M-001-554. V.T. was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant (AGS-1349942). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

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doi = "10.1038/s41467-022-32654-w",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - Hu, Hsun Ming

AU - Shen, Chuan Chou

AU - Chiang, John C.H.

AU - Trouet, Valerie

AU - Michel, Véronique

AU - Tsai, Hsien Chen

AU - Valensi, Patricia

AU - Spötl, Christoph

AU - Starnini, Elisabetta

AU - Zunino, Marta

AU - Chien, Wei Yi

AU - Sung, Wen Hui

AU - Chien, Yu Tang

AU - Chang, Ping

AU - Korty, Robert

N1 - Funding Information: We are thankful for the financial support provided by grants from the Science Vanguard Research Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (110−2123-M-002-009), the National Taiwan University (110L8907 to C.-C.S.), and the Higher Education Sprout Project of the Ministry of Education (110L901001 and 110L8907). H.-M.H. thanks the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and Dr. Ai-Ti Chen for providing useful and constructive comments. J.C.H.C. acknowledges support from a Visiting Professorship at Academia Sinica, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under grant number 110-2811-M-001-554. V.T. was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant (AGS-1349942). Funding Information: We are thankful for the financial support provided by grants from the Science Vanguard Research Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (110−2123-M-002-009), the National Taiwan University (110L8907 to C.-C.S.), and the Higher Education Sprout Project of the Ministry of Education (110L901001 and 110L8907). H.-M.H. thanks the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association and Dr. Ai-Ti Chen for providing useful and constructive comments. J.C.H.C. acknowledges support from a Visiting Professorship at Academia Sinica, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under grant number 110-2811-M-001-554. V.T. was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant (AGS-1349942). Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/12

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N2 - The Little Ice Age (LIA; ca. 1450–1850 C.E.) is the best documented cold period of the past millennium, characterized by high-frequency volcanism, low solar activity, and high variability of Arctic sea-ice cover. Past studies of LIA Atlantic circulation changes have referenced the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), but recent studies have noted that LIA climate patterns appear to possess complexity not captured by an NAO analogue. Here, we present a new precipitation-sensitive stalagmite record from northern Italy that covers the past 800 years. We show that in the early LIA (1470–1610 C.E.), increased atmospheric ridging over northern Europe split the climatological westerlies away from central and northern Europe, possibly caused by concurrent Artic sea-ice reduction. With ongoing ice melting in the northern high latitudes and decreasing solar irradiance in the coming years, the early LIA may potentially serve as an analogue for European hydroclimatic conditions in the coming decades.

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Split westerlies over Europe in the early Little Ice Age

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