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Climatic impact of ice-age aerosols

Nature volume 334, pages 333–335 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Data from Antarctic1–3, Greenland4,5 and Devon Island6 ice cores indicate that large increases in the atmospheric aerosol loading occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LCM) of about 18,000 yr BP. The aerosol content of the atmosphere is important in the present climate, causing the global mean temperature to be about 2–3 °C cooler than it would be in the absence of aerosols7. Here I use an energy balance climate model to show that plausible increases in the atmospheric aerosol optical depth during the LGM could have caused a further global mean cooling of 2–3 °C, thereby making a significant contribution to the climatic cooling of the LGM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Toronto, M5S 1A1, Canada

    L. D. Danny Harvey

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  1. L. D. Danny Harvey
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Harvey, L. Climatic impact of ice-age aerosols. Nature 334, 333–335 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/334333a0

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