Atmospheric CO2 and Climate: Byrd Ice Core, Antarctica

Data Contributors AHN, JINHO BROOK, EDWARD J Parameters SNOW/ICE SNOW/ICE > SNOW/ICE CHEMISTRY Instruments CORING DEVICES

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Reconstructions of ancient atmospheric CO2 variations help us better understand how the global carbon cycle and climate are linked. Here we compare CO2 variations on millennial time scales between 20,000 and 90,000 years with an Antarctic temperature proxy and records of abrupt climate change in the northern hemisphere. CO2 and Antarctic temperature are positively correlated over millennial-scale climate cycles, implying a strong connection to southern ocean processes. Evidence from marine sediment proxies indicates that CO2 rose most rapidly when North Atlantic Deep Water shoaled and stratification in the Southern Ocean was reduced. These increases in CO2 occurred during stadial (cold) periods in the northern hemisphere, several thousand years before abrupt warming events in Greenland. Data are available in Microsoft Excel format and are available via FTP.

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Data Citation

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Ahn, J.. 2007. Atmospheric CO2 and Climate: Byrd Ice Core, Antarctica. [indicate subset used]. Boulder, Colorado USA: National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://dx.doi.org/10.7265/N58W3B80.

See Also

• The Antarctic Glaciological Data Center Web site
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