Earth's hemispheres may have worked together to drive past ice ages
Researchers from the University of St Andrews have identified a mechanism where cooling in the Northern Hemisphere triggers ocean circulation changes that lead to CO2 drawdown in the Southern Ocean. This process helps explain how northern ice sheet growth contributed to past global ice ages.
Why it matters
Understanding the feedback loops between northern ice sheets and southern ocean carbon storage is critical for improving climate models and predicting future climate shifts.
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add to Preferred Sources Credit: Евгений Шухман from Pexels New research from the University of St Andrews has uncovered a previously unknown process that may have helped drive Earth into past ice ages. Published today (Oct. 22) in the Journal of Climate , the paper links ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere to changes in ocean circulation and sea ice in the Southern Hemisphere understood to drive down atmospheric CO₂. Linking these two key features of the ice ages has long been a challenge, given how far apart the two regions are.
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