Carbon dioxide and past Antarctic temperature linked

Abstract

Antarctic ice core records indicate a strong connection between a rapid rise in temperature and a rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) that occurred during the last ice age. Ahn et al. analyzed the carbon dioxide content of air preserved in Antarctic ice cores covering a time period about 37 to 47 thousand years ago, during which Antarctica went through two warming events in the midst of an ice age. The authors show that approximately half of the CO2 increase that occurred during that period happened very quickly, over less than 200 years. Furthermore, this rapid rise in CO2 occurred nearly simultaneously with a rapid rise in Antarctic temperature. Improved knowledge of the past connection between CO2 and climate can help inform understanding of the feedback relationship between CO2 and climate today. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2012GL053018, 2012)