Multidecadal to multicentury scale collapses of Northern Hemisphere monsoons over the past millennium.

ABSTRACT: Late Holocene climate in western North America was punctuated by periods of extended aridity called megadroughts. These droughts have been linked to cool eastern tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Here, we show both short-term and long-term climate variability over the last 1,500 y from annual band thickness and stable isotope speleothem data. Several megadroughts are evident, including a multicentury one, AD 1350-1650, herein referred to as Super Drought, which corresponds to the coldest period of the Little Ice Age. Synchronicity between southwestern North American, Chinese, and West African monsoon precipitation suggests the megadroughts were hemispheric in scale. Northern Hemisphere monsoon strength over the last millennium is positively correlated with Northern Hemisphe

SUBMITTER: Asmerom Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3683710 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature