Pleistocene terrestrial warming trend in East Asia linked to Antarctic ice sheets growth

Huanye Wang (), Weiguo Liu, Zhonghui Liu (), Xiaoke Qiang, Xinwen Xu, Jing Lei, Zhengguo Shi, Yunning Cao, Jing Hu, Fengyan Lu, Hongxuan Lu, Xiaolin Ma, Youbin Sun, Zhangdong Jin, Hong Ao, Zeke Zhang, Hu Liu, Yong Hu, Hong Yan, Weijian Zhou and Zhisheng An ()
Additional contact information
Huanye Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Weiguo Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhonghui Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaoke Qiang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xinwen Xu: Northwest University
Jing Lei: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhengguo Shi: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yunning Cao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jing Hu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Fengyan Lu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hongxuan Lu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaolin Ma: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Youbin Sun: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhangdong Jin: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hong Ao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zeke Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hu Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yong Hu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hong Yan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Weijian Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhisheng An: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract How terrestrial mean annual temperature (MAT) evolved throughout the past 2 million years (Myr) remains elusive, limiting our understanding of the patterns, mechanisms, and impacts of past temperature changes. Here we report a ~2-Myr terrestrial MAT record based on fossil microbial lipids preserved in the Heqing paleolake, East Asia. The increased amplitude and periodicity shift of glacial-interglacial changes in our record align with those in sea surface temperature (SST) records. However, its long-term warming trend (1.0 °C/Myr, 95% CI = 0.4–1.7 °C/Myr) during 1.8–0.6 Myr ago diverges from the contemporaneous SST cooling. We propose that the Pleistocene warming in East Asia primarily resulted from regionally enhanced heat input and greenhouse effect of rising water vapor driven by Antarctic ice sheets (AIS) growth, highlighting the important climatic effect of AIS evolution. Such long-term warming across the Mid-Pleistocene Transition might have been beneficial for archaic humans’ flourishing in Eurasia.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63331-3

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