A study from U of T Mississauga uses new research techniques to reveal alarming information about climate change in Canada’s north.
A study from U of T Mississauga uses new research techniques to reveal alarming information about climate change in Canada’s north. A study published in Nature Communications confirms that recent climate warming in the central Yukon region has surpassed the warmest temperatures experienced in the previous 13,600 years, a finding that could have important implications in the context of current global warming trends.
Paleoclimatologist and lead author Trevor Porter studies climate indicators such as water isotopes, tree rings and plant waxes for signs of climate patterns in the Holocene, a period of time that spans the past 11,700 years. In glaciated regions, paleoclimate research often relies on water isotopes measured from ice core samples taken from glaciers, but in the central Yukon where glaciers have long since receded, researchers must rely on other indicators such as plant pollen and small winged insects known as midges preserved in layers of lake sediment. Pollen and midges act as proxies for ancient temperatures but sometimes offer conflicting information.
Read more at University of Toronto
Photo: Yukon peat plateau. CREDIT: Trevor Porter
