Summer temperature trend over the past two millennia using air content in Himalayan ice

S. Hou (1, 2, 3) , J. Chappellaz (1) , Jean Jouzel (4, 5) , P. C. Chu (6) , Valérie Masson-Delmotte (4, 5) , D. Qin (3) , D. Raynaud (1) , P. A. Mayewski (7) , V. Y. Lipenkov (8) , S. Kang (3)

1 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement
2 IPSL - Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace
3 Lab. of Cryosphere and Environment
4 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
5 GLACCIOS - Glaces et Continents, Climats et Isotopes Stables
6 Naval Ocean-Atmosphere Prediction Lab.
7 Climate Change Institute (CCI)
8 AARI - Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute

Two Himalayan ice cores display a factor-two decreasing trend of air content over the past two millennia, in contrast to the relatively stable values in Greenland and Antarctica ice cores over the same period. Because the air content can be related with the relative frequency and intensity of melt phenomena, its variations along the Himalayan ice cores provide an indication of summer temperature trend. Our reconstruction point toward an unprecedented warming trend in the 20th century but does not depict the usual trends associated with "Medieval Warm Period" (MWP), or "Little Ice Age" (LIA).

Domaines: Interfaces continentales, environnement; Sciences de la Terre

S. Hou, J. Chappellaz, Jean Jouzel, P. C. Chu, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, et al.. Summer temperature trend over the past two millennia using air content in Himalayan ice. Climate of the Past, 2007, 3 (1), pp.89-95. ⟨10.5194/cp-3-89-2007⟩. ⟨hal-00330747⟩