Climate instability in LIG

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Published: Friday, 12 October 2018 11:10

quigs natcomms fig oct18Considerable ambiguity remains over the extent and nature of millennial/centennial-scale climate instability during the Last Interglacial (LIG; 129-116,000 years ago).

In a new paper released in Nature Communications today, members of the PAGES Working Group on Quaternary Interglacials (QUIGS) find that the Last Interglacial was punctuated by a series of century-scale arid events in southern Europe and cold water-mass expansions in the North Atlantic.

The data also show that the amplitude of the Last Interglacial changes was greater than that of the Holocene. Greenland ice-melt and runoff as a result of excess high-latitude warming may have contributed to the weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and to the observed climate changes.

Lead author Chronis Tzedakis said that "although not a strict analogue for future anthropogenically-driven changes, the profile of the Last Interglacial that emerges is one of enhanced century-scale climate instability, with implications for ice-sheet and ocean dynamics."

Read more in the paper "Enhanced climate instability in the North Atlantic and southern Europe during the Last Interglacial", here.

Find out more about the QUIGS working group, and join the mailing list, here.

Ecosystem transitions & records

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Published: Thursday, 11 October 2018 16:56

aquat trans ecosphere fig oct 18A new paper from PAGES' Aquatic Transitions working group questions if we can detect ecosystem critical transitions and signals of changing resilience from paleo-ecological records.

Zofia Taranu et al., summize in Ecosphere that paleo-ecological records represent a unique opportunity to expand our temporal perspective to consider regime shifts and critical transitions.

The authors developed a protocol to simulate paleolimnological records undergoing regime shifts or critical transitions to alternate states and tested, using both simulated and real core records, how mixing and compression affected their ability to detect past abrupt shifts.

Access the paper here.

Read more about Aquatic Transitions here.

Scientist & EMPP collaboration

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Published: Thursday, 11 October 2018 16:36

gpwg2 wshop rep open quat 18A workshop report from PAGES' Global Paleofire Working Group 2 (GPWG2), published today in Open Quaternary, calls for input on collaborations between scientists and ecosystem managers, practitioners and policymakers (EMPPs).

"Taking Fire Science and Practice to the Next Level", by Katarzyna Marcisz et al., is a product of the 2017 GPWG2 workshop in Montreal, Canada.

With this report, GPWG2 members would like to open a discussion about how to ignite new collaborations with EMPPs and make paleofire data useful for fire risk management. They indicate the way to improve the communication between scientists and EMPPs by proposing a scheme of cooperation between both groups.

Access the paper here.

Learn more about GPWG2 here.

Read the latest e-news

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Published: Wednesday, 10 October 2018 16:29

pages eye logoRead about the latest PAGES' news, meetings and opportunities from around the world in this month's e-news.

Highlights include the 1st PAGES webinar on 17 October, PAGES' working group news and upcoming meetings, and updates from IPCC, INQUA, Future Earth and WCRP.
 

PAGES' LiPD webinar - 17 Oct

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Published: Thursday, 04 October 2018 13:44

webinar icon webPAGES is pleased to announce its first webinar "The Linked Paleo Data framework (LiPD) - introduction and open discussion" will be held on Wednesday 17 October 2018 at 15:00 UTC. See your local time here.

For those who won’t be able to attend, we will (1) record the webinar and add it to our webpage, and (2) respond to questions via other channels.

The webinar is open to all and will be hosted by PAGES' SSC Member and current guest scientist Darrell Kaufman, who is also leader of our Data Stewardship Integrative Activity.

Attendees will learn about the LiPD framework from Nick McKay and have a chance to ask questions and give feedback.

All important additional information, the agenda, and detailed instructions to connect can be found here (pdf, 160KB).

Access the calendar entry here.

 

IPBES survey by 10 October

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Published: Thursday, 04 October 2018 11:54

The International Science Council (ISC) has been selected to manage the External Review of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – the "IPCC-like mechanism for biodiversity". Background information here.

As part of the External Review, the review panel is seeking your input on IPBES’ work to date and its future development through an online survey.

If you are interested in, or have been involved with, IPBES, you are encouraged to fill out the survey, which takes about 30 minutes, by 10 October.

The survey is available in English, French and Spanish. Additional background information is available here.

Should you have any questions on the review process, contents of the questionnaire, or technical issues, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. the review team.

Aiding preparations for floods

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Published: Monday, 01 October 2018 14:27

floods wires sep 18Floods Working Group members recently published an overview paper titled "Interpreting historical, botanical, and geological evidence to aid preparations for future floods" in WIREs Water.

This paper is a result of the 2016 Floods cross-community workshop in Grenoble, France, where a broad consortium of researchers gathered for the first time.

Accurate flood hazard and risk assessment is crucial for the sustainable development of societies worldwide. Historical, botanical, and geological archives have increasingly been recognized as valuable sources of extreme flood event information.

Authors Bruno Wilhelm et al. review these different archives with a particular focus on the recording mechanisms of flood information, the historical development of the methodological approaches and the type of information that those archives can provide.

Access the paper here.

Find out more about the Floods Working Group and be involved in its future activities.

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