Iberian Peninsula holds clues to climate
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.
Keywords
Iberian Peninsula, climate change, continental climates, hydrological cycle, environmental sensitivity
