A new article in Science Express (PDF)($ub. req’d), “High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change Happens in Few Years,” examines, “The last two abrupt warmings at the onset of our present warm interglacial period.” The article explores the underlying causes of …

… abrupt shifts of northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation resulting in 2-4°K changes in Greenland moisture source temperature from one year to the next.

The article concludes that

… polar atmospheric circulation can shift in 1-3 years resulting in decadal to centennial scale changes from cold stadials to warm interstadials/interglacials associated with astounding Greenland temperature changes of 10°K. Neither the magnitude of such shifts nor their abruptnesses are currently captured by state of the art climate models.

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How

The time to act is yesterday.

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.