A LANDMARK study led by the University of Aberdeen has provided the clearest ever picture of ancient weather patterns in Europe – and could improve models used to predict how climate change will affect the continent in future.
In the biggest study of its type, a network of European scientists from eight universities analysed a wealth of data on ancient glacial deposits that were used to reconstruct 3D models of the glaciers themselves.
By working out the shape of those glaciers, they were able to work out how much snowfall they needed to survive – and from there determine how the climate behaved during the so-called “Younger Dryas”, a period of rapid climate cooling which occurred 12,000 years ago at the end of the last glaciation.
The results indicate that the weather in north-western Europe and most of the Mediterranean was much wetter in this period compared to the present day. It was previously thought to be drier.
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Crucially, it has allowed those involved in the study to understand the consequences of movement of the jet stream – which governs our seasonal weather patterns.
The study analysed more than 120 glaciers from Norway and Ireland to Morocco and Turkey. The findings can be used to improve climate change models.
Professor Brice Rea and Dr Matteo Spagnolo, from Aberdeen University’s School of Geosciences, led the study.
Dr Spagnolo said: “Ultimately this study is about climate change. Current climate models rely heavily on recent data, but in order to improve these models we have to go much further back into the past.
“This is the most accurate proxy-based representation of the atmospheric circulation at the end of the last glaciation that’s ever been produced, and the data can be used to improve the models that predict what’s going to happen to our climate when – as is likely – the jet stream shifts as a result of ongoing climate change.”
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