Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L01808; doi:10.1029/2008GL035930.

Temperature response in the Altai region lags solar forcing

Anja Eichler^1,2, Susanne Olivier^1,3, Keith Henderson¹, Andreas Laube¹, Jürg Beer⁴, Tatyana Papina⁵, Heinz W. Gäggeler^1,3 and Margit Schwikowski^1,2

¹Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.

²Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

³Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

⁴Department of Surface Waters, EAWAG, Dübendorf, Switzerland.

⁵Institute for Water and Environmental Problems, Barnaul, Russia.

Abstract

The role of the sun on Earth's climate variability is still much debated. Here we present an ice core oxygen isotope record from the continental Siberian Altai, serving as a high-resolution temperature proxy for the last 750 years. The strong correlation between reconstructed temperature and solar activity suggests solar forcing as a main driver for temperature variations during the period 1250–1850 in this region. The precisely dated record allowed for the identification of a 10–30 year lag between solar forcing and temperature response, underlining the importance of indirect sun-climate mechanisms involving ocean-induced changes in atmospheric circulation. Solar contribution to temperature change became less important during industrial period 1850–2000 in the Altai region.