Session Details

Evidence for strong climatic links between the tropics and polar latitudes during the last glacial/Holocene has increased markedly over the past decade. These “teleconnections” are manifested in a variety of proxy records (e.g. speleothems, marine and lake sediments, ice cores) gathered from the major continents and oceans. Of particular interest has been the influence of high-latitude climate anomalies (e.g. “Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles”) on the global monsoons. For example, it is now firmly established that most tropical monsoon systems (e.g. Asian, African, and South American) were heavily influenced by Northern Hemisphere climate perturbations, which have been shown to control the meridional position of the intertropical convergence zone. However, the exact mechanism linking the two regions, and any associated leads/lags between them, is still a matter of debate. Further, an outstanding issue still puzzling scientists is the nature of the temperature response of the tropics to these higher latitude climate swings and what role the tropics played in driving these changes through, for example, climate feedbacks (e.g. associated with tropical “outbursts” of atmospheric CH4).This session seeks contributions focusing on the tropics that may help to shed light on some of these issues. Papers highlighting clear links with the higher latitudes during known climate events are particularly welcome.