Strengthening west winds close to Antarctica previously led to massive outgassing of carbon
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 - 10:00
in Earth & Climate
A new explanation for the Heinrich 1 event, where temperatures over Antarctica rose 5C in less than a century, suggests strengthening westerlies around the Antarctic led to a substantial increase in atmospheric carbon. Today, human-caused climate change is causing these same westerly winds to contract towards Antarctica and strengthen, suggesting an unexpected spike in carbon dioxide could occur again.