How widespread were climate anomalies 8200 years ago?

Abstract

Documenting the spatial extent of the 8.2 ka event is essential for understanding the possible response of the climate system to a freshwater perturbation in the North Atlantic. In this research, we analyzed paleoclimate proxy records from 52 sites using a statistical test to detect anomalies associated with the 8.2 ka event. Our results show that this event occurred in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere extratropics and the tropics. Evidence from the tropics is more spotty, but detection rates are similar for the tropics and extratropics, suggesting that tropical evidence for the event will become stronger as more records are generated. There is also a particular need for new paleoclimate proxy records from Southern Hemisphere sites and/or with quantitative estimates of climate anomalies. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.