The oscillatory behaviour of the climate system on decadal timescales beyond the instrumental record is hard to quantify. Yet knowledge of it is vital to support climate predictions and to put current changes in context of past experiences. We investigate the recurrent component of weather and climate variability in the North Atlantic sector during the Holocene in proxy data. We apply timefrequency analysis to both an annually-laminated climate record from a lake in England, and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation in a long transient simulation to demonstrate that decadal variability was consistent over the last 6,700 years and prior to 8,500 years before present, which was predominantly linked to solar and ocean forcing. Between these dates, climate variability was dampened on decadal timescales. Our results suggest that meltwater discharge into the North Atlantic and the subsequent hydrographic changes, from the opening of the Hudson Bay until the final collapse of the Laurentide Ice sheet, disrupted the regular climate patterns: suspending the decadal cyclic signals, and lowering the predictable signal of the climate system. Our results have relevance for near-term climate predictions given the current acceleration of the Greenland Ice Sheet melting in response to global warming.
Diss Mere is a small natural lake located in the centre of the town Diss in Norfolk (England).The lake, which has been exposed to different stressors including climate variability and changing land use, has significant recreational, historical, and environmental value. The Diss Mere sediments are annually-laminated for most of the Holocene (2.1 -10.3 ka BP), which allows the study of the lake evolution and its response to changing environmental conditions at an exceptionally high resolution. As with many mid-latitude, alkaline lakes, Diss Mere's sediments are formed of biogenic-calcite varves. We have conducted a 3.5-year lake monitoring survey including sediment trapping to identify the main drivers and seasonal processes contributing to lake sedimentation. Our results demonstrate that the modern lake is still producing seasonally-differentiated sediments today, however, are unable to be preserved as varves due to the permanent oxygenation of the lake bottom through gradual lake shallowing. Seasonal sediment fluxes follow a general pattern of i) an early spring diatom bloom ii) spring precipitation of medium-coarse calcite grains; iii) summer precipitation of smaller endogenic calcite grains; and iv) an autumn algal bloom and endogenic calcite precipitation intermixed with benthic diatoms and micrite. Whilst calcite precipitates throughout the whole year, peaks are observed in the epilimnion during the summer. This study shows that a modern analogue approach can be applied to the varves revealing their potential for environmental and climate reconstruction and highlights the significance of monitoring surveys for modern analogue approaches to palaeolimnological research.
<p>www.AntarcticGlaciers.org was set up in 2012 to promote public understanding of glaciers and climate change. The website aims to connect researchers to the next generation, to focus on make science accessible and interesting, and to provide an easy-to-find resource for teachers, with relevant, engaging, original content, interesting visuals and teaching resources. This approach helps scientists connect with a large community; there are 250,000 GCSE Geography school students in the UK alone.</p><p>&#160;</p><p>AntarcticGlaciers.org is used as a teaching resource by numerous universities and schools worldwide, and is recommended explicitly to teachers by the UK Geographical Association, SCAR, the Quaternary Research Association, the Royal Geographical Society and the Geologists&#8217; Association, among others. Resources from the website have been used in numerous school textbooks and MOOCs. Evaluation of user statistics shows that, to date, AntarcticGlaciers.org has received >3.2 million page views from >1.7 million visitors located across the globe. It has been well cited by diverse news outlets and scientific institutions including NASA, NSIDC, AGU, EGU and RealClimate.org. Google Analytics data shows that a substantial portion of the audience are engaged in the education sector. The website is the top or second hit in Google for a number of related search terms, and the majority of the traffic originates from organic searches.</p><p>&#160;</p><p>AntarcticGlaciers.org is supported by an unpaid Advisory Board comprising Higher Education professionals and practicing school teachers. The Advisory Board, in conjunction with focus groups and interviews held with teachers and teaching professional bodies, helps to guide website development. These interviews have revealed few appropriate teaching resources covering Antarctica for younger age groups (11-14 years). Resources that focused on quantitative data, introducing GIS and mapping, and that were clearly linked into the curriculum, were particularly sought after. Teachers indicated that existing content is often too hard and needs to be rewritten. Case studies, exciting multimedia visuals, interactive GIS and interesting student exercises are intensely desired. In current times, accessibility for learners at home is key priority. The limited attention spans of children means that large blocks of text do not work well and are best broken up with multimedia resources. Interactivity engages the learner and increases knowledge retention. Supporting teachers in teaching these topics, by developing engaging and exciting introductory content, is therefore a critical outreach goal.</p><p>&#160;</p><p>In this project, funded by the Antarctic Science Bursary, academic experts have worked with pedagogical consultants and ESRI educational consultants to develop a series of four ESRI StoryMap collections that cover: Introduction to Antarctica, Antarctic Wildlife, Antarctica and Climate Change, and People in Antarctica. These fully interactive StoryMaps include student mapping exercises, videos and interviews with experts, high quality photography and engaging imagery. They are tightly keyed into the national curriculum, and by working with educational experts, we have attempted to ensure that they are useful for teachers. Reviews by independent stakeholders at the final stage of the project will ensure that the StoryMaps will be effective in the classroom, especially in an online learning environment.</p>
<p>Antarctica is a continent distant for many, yet its continuous presence on news broadcasts and social media means the general public often have questions about the latest science, its relevance to individuals, and its uncertainties. However, scientific literature surrounding these questions is often not appropriate for a wider audience beyond academia due to the inaccessibility of journal articles and the complex jargon used. These limitations can hinder the research impact of a particular study. Finding a method of summarising complex, yet important research which may be of interest to a non-scientist is often challenging, however ESRI StoryMap Collections provide an opportunity to share science in an interactive and engaging format.</p><p>The AntarcticGalciers.org website was set up in 2012 to promote public understanding of glaciers and climate change. This website is used as an educational resource by teachers, students, and the public globally. However, we noticed that there was a gap in the up-to-date resources available about Antarctica aimed at UK KS3 (ages 11-14) students, despite the curriculum including Antarctica as part of a polar biome module.</p><p>The free AntarcticGlaciers StoryMap Series, funded by the Antarctic Science Bursary, is compiled of four StoryMap Collections which summarise the latest scientific research and concepts about Antarctica to a KS3 audience. These are divided into four themes: The Physical Geography of Antarctica, Wildlife of Antarctica, Climate Change and Antarctica and People and Antarctica. We used interactive GIS-based activities to contextualise aspects of the research and supplemented with a running commentary explaining what this research means in a plain language format. In addition to the GIS and written summaries of literature, we included other multimedia content, including talking head videos. This enables more complex research themes to be explored in more detail, without the user being overwhelmed with the written information.</p><p>Despite this project being aimed at a KS3 audience, the resources have been manufactured in a way which is accessible for any non-specialist with an interest in learning about up-to-date science of Antarctica.</p>
<p>&#160;</p><p>Representation of BIPOC (black, indigenous people of colour) people in geoscience is severely lacking, and is most apparent in polar sciences. Despite representing 16% of the UK population, only 3% of polar scientist are BIPOC<sup>1</sup>. Polar sciences have a poor history of inclusivity, with examples of research being dominated by white males until as late as 1960, when the first British female scientist conducted research in Antarctica. Underrepresentation is apparent from undergraduate level to research staff. In the UK, black people account for 1.2% of research staff, despite making up 3.4% of the UK population<sup>2</sup>. Similar statistics appear for research students, where 6.5% of black people who begin research, discontinue before graduating, compared with only 3.8% of white students<sup>2</sup>. A 2018 study by Bernard and Cooperdock suggests that increased diversity benefits scientific advancements greatly, as different life experiences often spark unique approaches to research<sup>3</sup>. If we want to broaden the ethnic and racial range in polar science, we need to increase involvement in polar sciences from school age students by encouraging them to pursue further education on polar and environmental sciences.&#160;&#160;</p><p>This free event, taking place on31<sup>st</sup> March, is firmly grounded in widening participation and engaging with school children who may not have considered a career in polar science. We will be working with diverse schools in Surrey and West London to bring 13-14 and 16-17 year old students to discuss careers in polar science. These two age groups were selected as they represent pivotal points in education where students select option courses, and begin to consider further study and future careers. The day will involve talks from various diverse polar scientists, including speakers from BAS, SPRI, University of Reading and Cambridge. Having a role model to identify with is key to fostering a sense of belonging in the science community. Therefore, we have invited speakers from a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, which we hope the students will identify with and will be able to envisage themselves having a career in polar science. This will be followed by a computer based exercise working through Antarctica focused StoryMaps developed both by AntarcticGlaciers.org and specifically for this event.</p><p>The event is a part of the Diversity in Polar Science initiative funded by UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Polar Regions Department, and will be hosted by Royal Holloway, University of London&#8217;s geography department.</p><p>&#160;</p><p>&#160;</p><p>References</p><p>1.&#160; &#160;British Antarctic Survey. 2022. <em>Diversity in UK Polar Science Initiative - British Antarctic Survey</em>. [online] Available at: <https://www.bas.ac.uk/project/diversity-in-uk-polar-science-initiative/> [Accessed 11 January 2022].</p><p>2.&#160; &#160;BBC News. 2022. <em>Black scientists say UK research is institutionally racist</em>. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58795079> [Accessed 11 January 2022].</p><p>3.&#160; &#160;Bernard, R.E. and Cooperdock, E.H., 2018. No progress on diversity in 40 years. <em>Nature Geoscience</em>,&#160;<em>11</em>(5), pp.292-295.</p>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.