Hydroclimate in Africa during the Medieval Climate Anomaly

Lüning, Sebastian; Gałka, Mariusz; Danladi, Iliya Bauchi; Adagunodo, T. A.; Vahrenholt, Fritz

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.025

Cited by 36 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 169 publications

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“…The occurrence of climatic shifts in Africa that could be related to the European MCA and LIA events is currently under debate but a growing body of research seems to support such a cross-latitude connection (e.g. Lüning et al, 2018;Russell and Johnson, 2007;Tierney et al, 2013). At Kyambangunguru, the last 500 yrs exhibit the coldest temperatures of the record which would support the existence of a "Little Ice Age" equivalent in East Africa, in agreement with records from nearby Lake Malawi (Branchu et al, 2010;Powers et al, 2011;Fig.…”

Section: Unit Ii: 23 -14 Ka Cal Bp (193-113 Cm)marsh/peatland Formmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Nash et al, 2016;Tyson and Lindesay, 1992;Woodborne et al, 2015). A recent literature review by Lüning et al (2018) suggests a transition zone across Tanzania with increased signs of humidity along a NE-SW transect. Notably, Buckles et al (2016) and Finch et al (2017) recorded wet conditions at Lake Challa until ca.…”

Section: Implications For Climate Dynamics In East Africa During the mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of climate change on the ecology of the Kyambangunguru crater marsh in southwestern Tanzania during the Late Holocene

Coffinet

Huguet

Bouchet

et al. 2018

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Instrumental records of temperature and hydrological regimes in East Africa evidence frequent droughts with dramatic effects on population and ecosystems. Sources of these climatic variations remain largely unconstrained, partly because of a paucity of Late Holocene records. Here, we present a multi-proxy analysis of a 4-m continuous sediment core collected in the Kyambangunguru crater marsh, in southwest Tanzania, covering the last yrs (cal. BP). We used microscopic (macro-remains, microfossils, palynofacies, pollen), elemental (carbon, nitrogen contents), molecular (br GDGTs, n-alkanes) and compound-specific isotopic (δ 2 H n-alkanes) investigations to reconstruct the environmental history of the marsh. The multi proxy record reveals that, 2500 years ago, the marsh underwent a major ecological transition from a lake to a peatland. Temperature and hydrological reconstructions evidence warmer and drier conditions between 2200 and 860 cal. BP, which probably triggered the establishment of a perennial peatland. This study is one of the first combined temperature and precipitation record of Late Holocene in the region and highlights changes in the spatial distribution of the East African climate regimes. Several cold periods are observed, between 3300 and 2000 cal. BP and since 630 cal. BP, the latter corresponding to the Little Ice Age. Moreover, wetter conditions are reported during the Medieval Climate Anomaly in contrast to other northeastern African records suggesting that Tanzania is located at the transition between two hydro-climatic zones (north-eastern versus southern Africa) and has experienced variable contributions of these two zones over the last millennium.

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Section: Unit Ii: 23 -14 Ka Cal Bp (193-113 Cm)marsh/peatland Formmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Implications For Climate Dynamics In East Africa During the mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of climate change on the ecology of the Kyambangunguru crater marsh in southwestern Tanzania during the Late Holocene

Coffinet

Huguet

Bouchet

et al. 2018

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…For example, paleoclimate proxies from South African lake, cave, and marine records in the Winter Rainfall Zone (WRZ) suggest a link between SHW and shifting precipitation patterns over the last few millennia 69 . During the warm Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 1000-1200 CE 70 ), the SHW were well south of their present position, no longer impinging on the continent during winter 69,[71][72][73] . However, with the onset of the LIA, WRZ precipitation increased with the northward migration of SHW-driven storm tracks 50 (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Southward migration of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds corresponds with warming climate over centennial timescales

Perren

Hodgson

et al. 2020

Commun Earth Environ

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Recent changes in the strength and location of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHW) have been linked to continental droughts and wildfires, changes in the Southern Ocean carbon sink, sea ice extent, ocean circulation, and ice shelf stability. Despite their critical role, our ability to predict their impacts under future climates is limited by a lack of data on SHW behaviour over centennial timescales. Here, we present a 700-year record of changes in SHW intensity from sub-Antarctic Marion Island using diatom and geochemical proxies and compare it with paleoclimate records and recent instrumental data. During cool periods, such as the Little Ice Age (c. 1400–1870 CE), the winds weakened and shifted towards the equator, and during warm periods they intensified and migrated poleward. These results imply that changes in the latitudinal temperature gradient drive century-scale SHW migrations, and that intensification of impacts can be anticipated in the coming century.

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“…A total of 79 Mediterranean localities were identified (Figure 2 and Tables 1 and S1). This Mediterranean review forms part of an attempt to palaeoclimatically map the MCA on a global scale (Lüning et al, 2017(Lüning et al, , 2018Lüning, Gałka, Bamonte, et al, 2019;Lüning, Gałka, García-Rodríguez, et al, 2019).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to better assess the magnitude of recent Global Warming, the observed climatic change has to be placed in a longer‐term palaeotemperature context. Of particular interest is the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), a recognized period of natural preindustrial climate change associated with marked temperature and hydroclimatic variability in many parts of the world (e.g., Graham et al, ; Lüning et al, , ; Lüning, Gałka, Bamonte, et al, ; Mann et al, ). The MCA represents the most recent natural warm phase, preceded in the Northern Hemisphere by the Dark Ages Cold Period (~400–800 CE, Helama et al, ) and followed by the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1300–1850, e.g., Shindell, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Medieval Climate Anomaly in the Mediterranean Region

Lüning¹,

Schulte

Garcés‐Pastor

et al. 2019

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) is a preindustrial phase of pronounced natural climate variability with a core period from 1000 to 1200 CE. The paper presents a synthesis that integrates palaeotemperature records from the Greater Mediterranean Region encompassing the past 1,500 years based on multiproxy data from 79 published land and marine sites. MCA warming dominated the Western Mediterranean (Iberia, NW Africa) as well as the northern land areas of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean region. MCA cooling prevailed in the Canary Current Upwelling System, southern Levant, and some sea areas of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. Previous palaeoreconstructions suggest persistent positive Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO+) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO+) conditions during the MCA, while the Little Ice Age was dominated by an AMO− and NAO− regime. During the past 150 years, AMO+ conditions are typically associated with warming episodes in the Mediterranean area. A similar relationship appears to have also been established during the MCA as the majority of all Mediterranean land sites experienced warm climate conditions. In contrast, the NAO typically leads to a characteristic west‐east temperature dipole pattern in the basin, as documented for the last decades. During NAO+ conditions the Western Mediterranean is generally warm (and dry), while large parts of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean are cold. Similar trends seem to have been developed during the MCA when the NAO+ regime led to consistent warming in the Western Mediterranean, while a significant number of sites with MCA cooling existed in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean.

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Hydroclimate in Africa during the Medieval Climate Anomaly

Cited by 36 publications

References 169 publications

Impact of climate change on the ecology of the Kyambangunguru crater marsh in southwestern Tanzania during the Late Holocene

Impact of climate change on the ecology of the Kyambangunguru crater marsh in southwestern Tanzania during the Late Holocene

Southward migration of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds corresponds with warming climate over centennial timescales

The Medieval Climate Anomaly in the Mediterranean Region

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