Study: Massive Abrupt Warming During Past Low-CO₂ Era

When policymakers are told:

Rapid warming is unprecedented. Climate instability is uniquely modern. Current rates are outside natural bounds.

They are not being given the full paleoclimate context. This paper has it. A newly published paper in Climate of the Past provides something climate science could use more of: large-scale, data-driven reconstructions grounded in proxy evidence rather than projections. The study, “A global analysis of pollen-based reconstructions of land climate changes d...

This post is currently for VIP and Premium Subscribers Only.

After 30 days it will be available to all users.

You can bookmark it and read in 30 days or

To read it it now, you can sign up by clicking here.

18 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Gregory Woods

February 11, 2026 4:18 pm

Story Tip

The EU would rather eat bugs than be real about its energy problems — RT World News:

The EU would rather eat bugs than be real about its energy problemsIt’s dawning on some in Brussels that by cutting out Russia, they’ve simply switched dependencies – except they couldn’t even do that right

Redge

Reply to Gregory Woods

February 11, 2026 9:29 pm

The EU would rather the proles eat bugs than be real about its energy problems

TBeholder

Reply to Redge

February 12, 2026 5:03 am

Will it take them long to start looking like chicken?

pillageidiot

February 11, 2026 4:53 pm

I live in flyover country, far from the temperature regulating effects of any oceans.

On some summer days, it is 64F at 6AM, and 104F by 4PM. That is a temperature increase of 4 degrees per hour.

Compare that to the “dangerous rapid warming” due to climate change.

For the sake of argument, let’s estimate the world has warmed 2F over the last century.

The daily variance of 4F/hour is 1.8 million times more rapid than the global warming rate. (4 degrees/hour x 24 hours/day x 365 days/year x 100 years/century divided by 2F/century)

All of the plants and animals in my locale seem to have no problems whatsoever with that rate of temperature change that happens multiple times per year.

Scissor

Reply to pillageidiot

February 11, 2026 5:06 pm

Hear me out. Everything you say is true, but it’s highly unlikely that you will survive whatever happens over the next century. /s

B Zipperer

Reply to Scissor

February 11, 2026 8:08 pm

Lol.
Then, is there a GCM [general currency model] that tells me when I should max-out
my credit cards (so I can party a lot, but won’t be around to pay them off?) ?

2hotel9

Reply to B Zipperer

February 12, 2026 4:47 am

Knew someone who did that. Turns out the terminal cancer diagnosis was wrong.

Sparta Nova 4

Reply to Scissor

February 12, 2026 8:49 am

Given the estimated maximum life for homo sapiens, I can clearly affirm I will not live 100 more years. 🙂

Bob Armstrong

Reply to pillageidiot

February 12, 2026 6:19 am

Here at 2500m in Teller Co CO the diurnal max-min is ~ 20c , 36f , year round .
And all CO2 based life is supposed to be in peril over an ` unprecedented 2c per century ?

One of the first red flags that diverted me into this brouhaha in 1980s was the claim that CO2 was causing warming which would take decades to show up .

The atmosphere has damn near 0 memory .

bnice2000

February 11, 2026 8:47 pm

GISP data shows several period of warming, and cooling, of at least similar steepness , and far more protracted, than the tiny little blip since 1900

DMacKenzie

Reply to bnice2000

February 12, 2026 6:07 am

Source ? Provenance ? Attribution ?

bnice2000

Reply to DMacKenzie

February 12, 2026 11:27 am

The GISP data is from RB Alley (2000)

Not sure where this version is from, but there are lots if you search “GISP Ice Cores”… and view images

This is one with the least added ‘stuff’

altipueri

February 11, 2026 9:53 pm

Ice core analysis shows some 25 rapid warming events in the past where temperatures rose by 5 to 15 degrees in as little as 50 years. They are called Dansgaard events after the Danish scientist who discovered them. Here’s a bit from encyclopedia Britannica on them:
https://www.britannica.com/science/Dansgaard-Oeschger-event

Shoki

February 11, 2026 10:17 pm

Warming after the Younger Dryas took place over approximately fifty years. Although it is the longest produced vehicle model, I don’t believe there were any Suburbans during that era.

Anthony Banton

Reply to Shoki

February 12, 2026 6:15 am

No indeed, there was the Atlantic ocean to Greenland’s south however, which would have been/is subject to currents from the sub-tropics. (N Atlantic drift returning south via the AMOC).
Seems evident that there was major shift in those currents causing an atmospheric coupling.

It is plainly a local (as in not global) phenomenon, as there is no way that the whole globe could warm by that amount in such a short time, and certainly not without there being multiple other global evidence.
Plus, there were more iterations of the DG events indicating an ocillation between ocean and atmospheric coupling.

-5

Sparta Nova 4

Reply to Anthony Banton

February 12, 2026 9:03 am

Ah. A fan of “The Day After Tomorrow.”

2hotel9

February 12, 2026 4:44 am

So, in summation, it is all just weather. Good to know.

NotChickenLittle

Reply to 2hotel9

February 12, 2026 4:25 pm

And weather is variable from year to year, sometimes drastically. And sometimes there are a string of hot years, and sometimes a string of cold years, and wet and dry, too. We can read historical accounts that show this has happened throughout human history. And it’s ALL just weather, and the sky is NOT falling…

wpDiscuz

Welcome to Watts Up With That, one of the most well-known climate blogs! We gather the latest scientific research, news, and expert opinion to help you understand how our planet is changing and what implications it may have for humanity. Our approach is based on facts, objective analysis, and open discussions about one of the most critical issues of our time. Watts up with that climate and what changes await us – let’s figure it out together!

Watts Up With That covers a wide range of topics related to climate change and its impact on the world. Here’s what’s important to us:

Global warming – its causes, consequences, and future forecasts.
Analysis of current climate research and its findings.
Climate change news.
Extreme weather events – hurricanes, droughts, floods, and their connection to climate change.
The impact of different energy sources on the environment and the development of sustainable technologies.
Political and economic aspects and how states and international organizations respond to climate change.

Watts Up With That?

Study: Massive Abrupt Warming During Past Low-CO₂ Era

Get notified when a new post is published.

Related Posts

Hell Has Frozen Over: The Washington Post Discovers the Limits of the EPA

Watch LIVE here @ 130PM EST – as Trump Rescinds the CO2 Endangerment Finding

The Coming Squall

Holocene Warming