Millennial-scale temperature variations in North America during the Holocene

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research. D. Atmospheres 2006-05, Vol.111 (D9), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Viau, A. E., Gajewski, K., Sawada, M. C., Fines, P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: climate; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Holocene; North America
• ISSN: 0148-0227; 2156-2202
• DOI: 10.1029/2005JD006031

A mean continental July temperature reconstruction based on pollen records from across North America quantifies temperature variations of several timescales for the past 14,000 cal yr BP. In North America, temperatures increased nearly 4°C during the late glacial, reaching maximum values between 6000 and 3000 cal yr BP, after which mean July temperatures decreased. Superimposed on this orbital‐scale trend are millennial‐scale temperature variations that appear coherent in structure and frequency with high‐resolution ice, marine and other terrestrial paleoclimate records of the Holocene. During the Holocene, climate in North America appears to have varied periodically every ∼1100 years rather than the ∼1500 year cycle found during the last glacial period. Coherence at frequencies between 900 and 1100 years between land, ice, and ocean records suggests a common forcing associated with widespread surface impacts during the Holocene. These results provide important insight to the global warming debate, as the observed twentieth century temperature increase appears unprecedented compared to our mean North American temperature reconstruction of the past 14,000 years.