IBERIAN CLIMATE

Environmental sensitivity of the Iberian peninsula to climate change

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The continuing buildup of industrial greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and concomitant increase in global temperatures has made much of the world’s society aware that decades to centuries of environmental change lie ahead, and that these will have profound economic, political and societal impacts. In certain parts of the world the negative impacts of these changes will outweigh any possible positive effects. This is particularly the case for the Mediterranean countries, and large parts of the Iberian Peninsula. The effect that Global Warming will have on Continental Climates in Iberia and its correlation with Atlantic Merid¬ional Overturning Circulation (Atlantic MOC) is particularly critical because a reorganization of the Atlantic MOC will have profound effects on climates in the wider North Atlantic region and is the only known viable mechanism to cause substantial Abrupt Climate Changes that can occur on time scales < 30 years. The Iberian Peninsula lies in the boundary between tropical and subtropical climates and seems to amplify the climatic signals form the northern hemisphere through both atmospheric and water circulation feedbacks, making it an ideal site to monitor Northern hemisphere climate changes. This extreme sensitivity to climatic changes also makes the Iberian Peninsula extremely sensitive to future climate changes. This is why understanding sensitivity to climate change and the consequences it will have on both climate and the hydrological cycle is key to implement preventive measures. The aim of the project is to come up with a high resolution quantitative reconstruction of climate variability (temperature, production and precipitation) in the Iberian Peninsula from lake sediments to establish the relation between those changes and those observed in both ice cores from Greenland and paleotemperature records from marine sediments of the continental Iberian margin. Presently this reconstruction is incomplete, fragmented and very few times quan'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The Iberian Peninsula lies on the boundary between tropical and semi-tropical climates, which appears to amplify the climatic 'signals' from the northern hemisphere. These signals take the form of atmospheric and water circulation feedback systems, making the Iberian Peninsula the ideal site to monitor northern hemisphere climate change.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Global warming is expected to have a critical effect on continental climates in Iberia and its association with the circulation of currents in the Atlantic Ocean. This is an especially important issue as any changes in circulation will have a profound effect on climates in the wider North Atlantic region. In addition, this is the only known viable mechanism to cause abrupt climate changes over a 30-year timescale.

Extreme sensitivity of the Iberian Peninsula to climate change makes the region itself sensitive to future changes in climate. Therefore, understanding the consequences on both climate and the hydrological cycle is a key factor to implementing preventative measures.

The 'Environmental sensitivity of the Iberian Peninsula to climate change' (IBERIAN CLIMATE) project set out to reconstruct past climate variability. This will enable scientists to make more accurate predictions of future climate change.

IBERIAN CLIMATE reconstructed past variability in temperature and precipitation using organic geochemistry and pollen records from lake sediments. These changes were compared with those observed in ice cores from Greenland and ancient temperature records from marine sediments from the continental Iberian margin.

Temperature and pH proxies by project partners are proving to be a valuable addition to the palaeoclimatologist tool kit. It will provide new ways to reconstruct the parameters of past climates. In addition, the scarcity of reliable records of continental climate and temperature make the results of IBERIAN CLIMATE extremely relevant to the scientific community.