Future directions of paleoclimate research

Abstract This viewpoint identifies two issues, seen by the author as critical for future paleoclimate research: (i) the nature and cause of climatic conditions during peak glacial times; (ii) the geographic pattern of abrupt changes of climate and the factors that initiated these changes. A list of research programmes designed to test these issues is given.

[1]  T. Sowers,et al.  Climate Records Covering the Last Deglaciation , 1995, Science.

[2]  D. Schrag,et al.  Pore Fluid Constraints on the Temperature and Oxygen Isotopic Composition of the Glacial Ocean , 1996, Science.

[3]  Richard G. Fairbanks,et al.  Tropical Temperature Variations Since 20,000 Years Ago: Modulating Interhemispheric Climate Change , 1994, Science.

[4]  E. Mosley‐Thompson,et al.  Late Glacial Stage and Holocene Tropical Ice Core Records from Huascar�n, Peru , 1995, Science.

[5]  G. W. Lamorey,et al.  The ‘flickering switch’ of late Pleistocene climate change , 1993, Nature.

[6]  J. Schwander,et al.  Synchronous changes in atmospheric CH4 and Greenland climate between 40 and 8 kyr BP , 1993, Nature.

[7]  G. Denton,et al.  Younger Dryas Age Advance of Franz Josef Glacier in the Southern Alps of New Zealand , 1994, Science.

[8]  T. Stocker,et al.  Timing of the Antarctic cold reversal and the atmospheric CO2 increase with respect to the Younger Dryas Event , 1997 .

[9]  J. Kennett,et al.  Brief interstadial events in the Santa Barbara basin, NE Pacific, during the past 60 kyr , 1996, Nature.

[10]  R. Middleton,et al.  Beryllium-10 Dating of the Duration and Retreat of the Last Pinedale Glacial Sequence , 1995, Science.

[11]  Richard G. Fairbanks,et al.  Climate connections between the hemisphere revealed by deep sea sediment core/ice core correlations , 1996 .

[12]  W. Broecker,et al.  Cooling of Tropical Brazil (5�C) During the Last Glacial Maximum , 1995, Science.

[13]  Wallace S. Broecker,et al.  PALEOCEAN CIRCULATION DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION : A BIPOLAR SEESAW ? , 1998 .