Using radiocarbon dating, new research in Geophysical Research Letters has calculated the age of relic moss samples that have been exposed by modern Arctic warming. Results claim that temperatures in the Arctic are warmer than during any sustained period since the mosses were originally buried. Video follows.
Geophysical Research Letters Press Release:
Arctic Warmth Unprecedented in 44,000 Years, Reveals Samples of Ancient Moss
When the temperature rises on Baffin Island, in the Canadian high Arctic, ancient Polytrichum mosses, trapped beneath the ice for thousands of years, are exposed. Using radiocarbon dating, new research in Geophysical Research Letters has calculated the age of relic moss samples that have been exposed by modern Arctic warming. Since the moss samples would have been destroyed by erosion had they been previously exposed, the authors suggest that the temperatures in the Arctic now must be warmer than during any sustained period since the mosses were originally buried.
The authors collected 365 samples of recently exposed biological material from 110 different locations, cutting a 1000 kilometer long transect across Baffin Island, with samples representing a range of altitudes. From their samples the authors obtained 145 viable measurements through radiocarbon dating. They found that most of their samples date from the past 5000 years, when a period of strong cooling overtook the Arctic. However, the authors also found even older samples which were buried from 24,000 to 44,000 years ago.
The records suggest that in general, the eastern Canadian Arctic is warmer now than in any century in the past 5000 years, and in some places, modern temperatures are unprecedented in at least the past 44,000 years. The observations, the authors suggest, show that modern Arctic warming far exceeds the bounds of historical natural variability.
“The great time these plants have been entombed in ice, and their current exposure, is the first direct evidence that present summer warmth in the Eastern Canadian Arctic now exceeds the peak warmth there in the Early Holocene era”, said Gifford Miller, from the University of Colorado. “Our findings add additional evidence to the growing consensus that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases have now resulted in unprecedented recent summer warmth that is well outside the range of that attributable to natural climate variability.”
Video: Disappearing Ice Caps – Giff Miller on Baffin Island
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“Since the moss samples would have been destroyed by erosion had they been previously exposed” – there is the assumption that needs proving, mosses are not easily eroded and can build up over many many generations.
Moss
I actually wonder if they are assuming that this is the only time in 44,000 years that these mosses have been uncovered, and if, in reality, that these areas may have been uncovered and recovered many many times over that 44,000 years.
How do they know that these mosses have never been uncovered before? I mean even 80 years ago and then recovered by ice?
If modern warming exceeds the bounds of natural variability then how did the moss grow there in the first place?
I have hear this claim before. This so-called scientist makes so many assumptions about the situation as to make the whole study worthless. I guess this guy had a time lapse camera on the darn moss making sure it was under ice the whole 44,000 years?
Besides, I wonder why an arctic where moss grows again would not be a good thing. Who gets to decide what is the “right” amount of cold up north anyway.
Aren’t someone forgetting the ice age? The last Ice age started 110.000 years ago, ended for 10.000 years ago. During that period mosses should have been covered. So why mention 44.000 years at all?
Then I guess the LIA never reached the Arctic – which is news in an of itself. Moreover, how this guy comes to the conclusion this is the result of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases is a leap of faith beyond any reputable science. The fact is this guy had his mind made up and anthropogenic would be blamed no matter what he claims to have found.
Maybe link to this article on WUWT
Also, look for “Helluland”; which may be what is now known asBaffin Island, discovered by Leif Erikson about 1000 years ago. It wasn’t setled because it was too stony/rocky. Later research indicates that Baffin Island was occupied by Dorset-culture (Inuit) people until the 14th century.
This story was thoroughly debunked (by Steve McIntyre among others) when it was published back in October, so why rake it over again, just because someone has seen fit to issue another overhyped press-release?
Boulder is the weed capital of Colorado draw your own conclusions as to where this theory is coming from.
I think the Vikings who first started farming on Greenland would probably dispute this claim.
Refer to:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/11/02/miller-et-al-s-unprecedented-recent-summer-warmth-in-arctic-canada-bad-assumptions-poor-logic-and-contrary-to-other-evidence-of-arctic-temperatures/?relatedposts_exclude=101913
http://climateaudit.org/2013/10/26/18501/
for details
Shouldn’t it be? We’ve been warming up since the mini-ice age. Once they throw man-made global warming in the dumpster, This will all make since. We are probably in another Medieval Global warming period with more to come.
Nice record and proof to be added to the pile that sunspots are our friends and the lack there of is catastrophic.
Sincerely,
Paul Pierett
The claim “Arctic warmth unprecedented in 44,000 years” is false. It may be that Baffin Island was warmer than ever before, it;s not true for Arctic Siberia, hence not for the whole Arctic See Hubberten et al 2004.
http://epic.awi.de/9052/1/Hub2004a.pdf
See fig 6 at page 1339 (7) column b, also do a search with the term “warmer” to find:
That definitely indicates lower summer temperatures than in the Middle Weichselian,
but still warmer temperatures than today are indicated by the occurrence of some thermophilic plant species (Kienast, 2002).
I hope he did not travel up there on a Russia boat.
They’re evidently giving away too many PhDs these days.
You do not even need a warming trend to melt ice – this is primary school science. All the result show is that the accumulated effect (the integral of all the energy accrued during that period) has led to net melting. Melting is a continuous process not a discrete one.
For example, if I have a bucket of ice and leave it in a room where the temperature increase from -10(degrees C) to 40 (degrees C) for a few hours some of the ice will melt. If the temperature then decreases again to say 20 (degrees C) for the rest of the period the rest of the ice STILL melts. That does not mean that the maximum temperature during that period is 20 degrees. I mean really, is this guy really that stupid.
My apologies. Since should be sense. My BlackBerry almost reads my mind.
Logical falsehood; suppose after burial there have been a series of meltbacks, and finally the covering ice vanished in the latest warming, which happens to be much more limited than all the previous ones.
Helge Andersson on January 22, 2014 at 1:20 am
Yes, true! You are also pointing at a period that might be part of the lowest LFO in a full climate cycle. This plus interglacial time to complete a full cycle. Ie. the shortest period to consider in climate.
Short periods like “30” years is statistical noise and periods like “5000” and “44000” can prove anything … (Basic knowledge of statistics)
The glaciers here in Iceland were much smaller 1000 years ago and almost non-existent 2500 years ago.
See the two maps on this page (the text is in Icelandic):
http://agbjarn.blog.is/blog/agbjarn/entry/811115/
Cart before the horse. Fix the basic physics first and then try to sell us.
“Since the moss samples would have been destroyed by erosion had they been previously exposed”
So a plant, that relies on sunlight and air is destroyed when exposed? Are these people idiots?
Are we talking about stuff buried under a glacier? Don’t glaciers move over time? Doesn’t the tail end of a glacier melt while it is replenished at the top? Sheesh.
Oh God……It’s worse….
How can they lay claim to ‘unprecedented for 44K years” from only a handful of their samples? It could just as well be natural occurring changes in local patterns that altered the landscape.