Climate Change During the Holocene (Past 12,000 Years)

Abstract

This chapter summarises the climatic and environmental information that can be inferred from proxy archives over the past 12,000 years. The proxy archives from continental and lake sediments include pollen, insect remnants and isotopic data. Over the Holocene, the Baltic Sea area underwent major changes due to two interrelated factors-melting of the Fennoscandian ice sheet (causing interplay between global sea-level rise due to the meltwater and regional isostatic rebound of the earth's crust causing a drop in relative sea level) and changes in the orbital configuration of the Earth (triggering the glacial to interglacial transition and affecting incoming solar radiation and so controlling the regional energy balance). The Holocene climate history showed three stages of natural climate oscillations in the Baltic Sea region: short-term cold episodes related to deglaciation during a stable positive temperature trend (11,000-8000 cal year BP); a warm and stable climate with air temperature 1.0-3.5°C above modern levels (8000-4500 cal year BP), a decreasing temperature trend; and increased climatic instability (last 5000-4500 years). The climatic variation during the Lateglacial and Holocene is reflected in the changing lake levels and vegetation, and in the formation of a complex hydrographical network that set the stage for the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age of the past millennium.

Early Holocene Thermal Maximum recorded by branched tetraethers and pollen in Western Europe (Massif Central, France)

“…7F; Cacho et al, 1999;Leduc et al, 2010;Martrat et al, 2014). Northern European records also show a similar pattern even if the HTM is generally delayed from 2 to 3 kyr compared to mid-latitude records (e.g., Brown et al, 2012;Borzenkova et al, 2015). At the scale of the northern hemisphere, the temperature evolution at St Front is also consistent with Iceland mean annual temperature obtained from brGDGTs (Moossen et al, 2015), the Greenland temperature record based on combined nitrogen and argon isotope analyses ( Fig.…”

“…Western Europe is particularly affected by this effect with a delay which can span up to 2000 years. The Fennoscandian Ice Sheet that persisted until 9 kyr cal BP (Lind en et al, 2006) also lead to a delayed HTM in Northern Europe (e.g., Brown et al, 2012;Borzenkova et al, 2015).…”

Middle to Late Holocene Variations in Salinity and Primary Productivity in the Central Baltic Sea: A Multiproxy Study From the Landsort Deep

“…This period coincided with the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM, c. 8-4.8 cal ka BP, Seppä et al, 2015). During the HTM, a stable, warm, and dry climate prevailed in northern Europe (Seppä et al, 2009;Renssen et al, 2012;Borzenkova et al, 2015). Maximum salinities were reached in the Baltic Sea during the HTM (Gustafsson and Westman, 2002;Emeis et al, 2003).…”

The Anthropocene Dialogues on Climate Change to Human Health of Homosapiens in India

“…The Indians went through a golden period when the food production was higher than the demand. Dating to deglaciation during the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) and later during early Holocene, the climatic chauffeurs were the changes in sun earth geometry (orbital insolation trend), solar irradiance changes, volcanic bustle, GHG gasses, LU/LC changes, [25], (Fig. 2).…”