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The influence of the Laurentian Great Lakes on the climate of surrounding regions is significant, especially in leeward settings where lake-effect snowfall occurs. Heavy lake-effect snow represents a potential natural hazard and plays important roles in winter recreational activities, agriculture, and regional hydrology. Changes in lake-effect snowfall may represent a regional-scale manifestation of hemispheric-scale climate change, such as that associated with global warming. This study examines records of snowfall from several lake-effect and non-lake-effect sites throughout most of the twentieth century in order to 1) determine whether differences in snowfall trends exist between these settings and 2) offer possible linkages between lake-effect snow trends and records of air temperature, water temperature, and ice cover. A new, historic record of oxygen isotope [␦ 18 O ] data from the sediments of three eastern Finger Lakes in central New York is presented as a means (CaCO ) 3 of independently assessing changes in Great Lakes lake-effect snowfall. Results reveal a statistically significant increasing trend in snowfall for the lake-effect sites, whereas no trend is observed in the non-lake-effect settings. The Finger Lake oxygen isotope record reflects this increase in lake-effect snow through a statistically significant trend toward lower ␦ 18 O values. Records of air temperature, water temperature, and lake ice suggest that (CaCO ) 3 the observed lake-effect snow increase during the twentieth century may be the result of warmer Great Lakes surface waters and decreased ice cover, both of which are consistent with the historic upward trend in Northern Hemispheric temperature due to global warming. Given projected increases in future global temperature, areas downwind of the Great Lakes may experience increased lake-effect snowfall for the foreseeable future.

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A 7.6-m core recovered from Lough Inchiquin, western Ireland provides evidence for rapid and long-term climate change from the Late Glacial period to the Mid-Holocene. We determined percentage of carbonate, total organic matter, mineralogy, and δ18Ocalcite values to provide the first high-resolution record of climate variability for this period in Ireland. Following deglaciation, rapid climate amelioration preceded large increases in GISP2 δ18Oice values by ∼2300 yr. The Oldest Dryas (15,100 to 14,500 cal yr B.P.) Late Glacial event is documented in this record as a decrease in δ18Ocalcite values. Brief warming at ∼12,700 cal yr B.P. was followed by characteristic Younger Dryas cold and dry climate conditions. A rapid increase in δ18Ocalcite values at ∼10,500 cal yr B.P. marked the onset of Boreal warming in western Ireland. The 8200 cal yr B.P. event is represented by a brief cooling in our record. Prior to general warming, a larger and previously undescribed climate anomaly between 7300 and 6700 cal yr B.P. is characterized by low δ18Ocalcite values with high-frequency variability.