This Cave May Hold Clues to Future Climate Change

A period of abrupt climate change 12,000 years ago occurred rapidly in northern latitudes but much more gradually in equatorial regions, report researchers.
This Cave May Hold Clues to Future Climate Change
Cave entrance at Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan, Philippines. Jud Partin
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A period of abrupt climate change 12,000 years ago occurred rapidly in northern latitudes but much more gradually in equatorial regions, reported researchers.

The discovery could prove important for understanding and responding to future climate change.

The research, published in Nature Communications, focuses on the Younger Dryas, a cooling period that started when the North Atlantic Current, an ocean current, stopped circulating. The event caused Earth’s Northern Hemisphere to enter into a deep chill, with temperatures in Greenland dropping by approximately 18 degrees Fahrenheit in less than a decade.

The event also caused rainfall to decrease in places as far away as the Philippines. However, whereas temperatures in Greenland responded quickly to the ocean current shutdown and subsequent reboot 1,000 years later, it took hundreds of years for rainfall in the Philippines to be affected and to recover.

The cave room in Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan, Philippines. A stalagmite collected from this location served as a record for ancient rainfall data. (Raf Rios)
The cave room in Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Palawan, Philippines. A stalagmite collected from this location served as a record for ancient rainfall data. Raf Rios
Anton Caputo
Anton Caputo
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