Atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, deuterium, and calculated Antarctic temperature of EPICA Dome C ice core

Understanding the role of atmospheric CO2 during past climate changes requires clear knowledge of how it varies in time relative to temperature. Antarctic ice cores preserve highly resolved records of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature for the past 800,000 years. Here we propose a revised relative age scale for the concentration of atmospheric CO2 and Antarctic temperature for the last deglacial warming, using data from five Antarctic ice cores. We infer the phasing between CO2 concentration and Antarctic temperature at four times when their trends change abruptly. We find no significant asynchrony between them, indicating that Antarctic temperature did not begin to rise hundreds of years before the concentration of atmospheric CO2, as has been suggested by earlier studies.

为了深刻理解大气二氧化碳在过往气候变化中所扮演的角色，有必要明确把握其在时间维度上相对于温度的变化规律。南极冰芯保存了过去800,000年大气二氧化碳和南极温度的高分辨率记录。本研究针对过去冰期结束期间的二氧化碳浓度与南极温度，基于五颗南极冰芯的数据，提出了一个修订后的相对年代尺度。我们推断出二氧化碳浓度与南极温度在四个趋势突变时刻的相位关系。研究发现，二者之间不存在显著的同步性差异，这表明南极温度并非在数百年前大气二氧化碳浓度上升之前就开始上升，这与先前研究提出的观点相悖。