Holocene climate variability

2004/10/21 by Paul A. Mayewski, Eelco E. Rohling, J. Curt Stager +18 · 2,607 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Arid #Before Present #Climate change #Climate pattern #Climatology #Geography #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Glacial period #Global cooling #Holocene #Oceanography #Paleoclimatology #Paleontology #Physical geography #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Tropical climate

paper · doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2004.07.001

published in Quaternary Research 62(3), 243-255 (Cambridge University Press)

openalex publication_date 2004/10/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Although the dramatic climate disruptions of the last glacial period have received considerable attention, relatively little has been directed toward climate variability in the Holocene (11,500 cal yr B.P. to the present). Examination of ?50 globally distributed paleoclimate records reveals as many as six periods of significant rapid climate change during the time periods 9000"8000, 6000"5000, 4200"3800, 3500"2500, 1200"1000, and 600"150 cal yr B.P. Most of the climate change events in these globally distributed records are characterized by polar cooling, tropical aridity, and major atmospheric circulation changes, although in the most recent interval (600"150 cal yr B.P.), polar cooling was accompanied by increased moisture in some parts of the tropics. Several intervals coincide with major disruptions of civilization, illustrating the human significance of Holocene climate variability.

Citations

• The Eastern Mediterranean paleoclimate as a reflection of regional events: Soreq cave, Israel
• A 5000-yr Record of Climate Change in Varved Sediments from the Oxygen Minimum Zone off Pakistan, Northeastern Arabian Sea

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Related

• The Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition
• A Reconstruction of Regional and Global Temperature for the Past 11,300 Years
• The Tropics in Paleoclimate
• Lessons from paleoclimates for recent and future climate change: opportunities and insights
• Holocene climatic instability: A prominent, widespread event 8200 yr ago