Mean global ocean temperatures during the last glacial transition

Bernhard Bereiter (), Sarah Shackleton, Daniel Baggenstos, Kenji Kawamura and Jeff Severinghaus
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Bernhard Bereiter: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego
Sarah Shackleton: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego
Daniel Baggenstos: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego
Kenji Kawamura: National Institute of Polar Research, Research Organizations of Information and Systems
Jeff Severinghaus: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego

Nature, 2018, vol. 553, issue 7686, 39-44

Abstract: Abstract Little is known about the ocean temperature’s long-term response to climate perturbations owing to limited observations and a lack of robust reconstructions. Although most of the anthropogenic heat added to the climate system has been taken up by the ocean up until now, its role in a century and beyond is uncertain. Here, using noble gases trapped in ice cores, we show that the mean global ocean temperature increased by 2.57 ± 0.24 degrees Celsius over the last glacial transition (20,000 to 10,000 years ago). Our reconstruction provides unprecedented precision and temporal resolution for the integrated global ocean, in contrast to the depth-, region-, organism- and season-specific estimates provided by other methods. We find that the mean global ocean temperature is closely correlated with Antarctic temperature and has no lead or lag with atmospheric CO2, thereby confirming the important role of Southern Hemisphere climate in global climate trends. We also reveal an enigmatic 700-year warming during the early Younger Dryas period (about 12,000 years ago) that surpasses estimates of modern ocean heat uptake.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/nature25152

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