2026/02/18 by José María Fernández-Palacios, José Luis Martín Esquivel, Enrique Fernández-Palacios · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · pdf · doi:10.21425/fob.19.176249
openalex publication_date 2026/02/18 · openalex created_date 2026/02/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
The ruling climate conditions during the Last Interglacial, the Eemian (ca. 130–120 ky BP), were warmer and, consequently, the sea level stood 8–10 m higher than today. Ongoing human-induced climate change is progressively transforming the Holocene climatic and biogeographical conditions towards those that ruled during the Eemian, a concept that we coin here as “eemification” of the Holocene. In this work, we aim to characterize the ongoing Holocene transformation with data stemming from several climatic and biogeographical studies concerning both terrestrial and marine ecosystems and biota from the Canary Islands. This archipelago is particularly well-suited for assessing contemporary climate change owing to its unique natural characteristics, including the varied nature of the topography and climate of the islands, its position in the subtropical belt, and its well-known and monitored biota. As well, its status as a major mass tourism destination positions it as a sentinel for the early detection of rapid climate shifts. Human activities are progressively pushing Holocene to Eemian (Last Interglacial, LIG, 130–120 Ka BP) conditions, a concept that we coin here as “eemification”. The LIG in the Canaries was characterized among other issues by a warmer (2–4 °C) temperature, a higher (8–10 m) sea level, and the presence of the Senegalese marine malacofauna, today restricted to Cabo Verde and the Gulf of Guinea. Several lines of evidence demonstrate this eemification process in the Canaries across recent decades. These changes include a significant temperature increment in the islands’ summits, the elevational shift of plant species, increased fire frequency, and the colonization by many new, tropical terrestrial and marine species. Due to their complex topography, unique and well-known biota, and because it is a mass tourism destination, the Canaries are very well suited for the early detection of these rapid climate shifts.