Milestones in climate research at Lamont
1956: “A Theory of Ice Ages.” Maurice Ewing and W.I. Donn,
Science. Began a long tradition at Lamont of investigating the cause
of climate variability.
1960: “Natural radiocarbon in the Atlantic Ocean.” Wallace
Broecker et al., Journal of Geophysical Research.
A major advance in understanding the movements of deep ocean
waters, this set Lamont on the path of using natural and manmade
tracers to investigate the oceans’ linkages with the climate system.
1966: “Paleomagnetic study of Antarctic deep-sea cores.” N.D.
Opdyke et al. Science. This study showed that reversals of earth’s
magnetic field, combined with microfossils, could be used to
accurately date deep-sea sediments back beyond 2 million years.
Prior to this, the limit, based on the isotope carbon 14, was only
25,000 years. This set the stage for serious tests of theories of
climate change in the more distant past.
1976: “The surface of the ice-age Earth.” CLIMAP, Science.
Reconstructed the Sea Surface Temperature [SST] at the height of
the last glaciation. This is the first time that a global reconstruction of
the earth's surface temperature had been attempted for a time when
climate was markedly different than today’s. Subsequent research at
Lamont has refined reconstructions of SST.
1976: “Variations in Earth’s orbit—Pacemaker of ice ages.” J.D.
Hays et al, Science. Established to most people's satisfaction that
orbital variations control at least the timing of changes from glacial to
interglacial time.
1978: “The Marine oxygen isotope record in Pleistocene Coral,
Barbados, West Indies.” Richard Fairbanks et al., Quaternary
Research. Documented the magnitude and rapidity of sea level rises
at the end of the last glaciation.
1986: “Experimental Forecasts of El Niño.” Mark Cane, Steve
Zebiak et al., Nature. The first successful attempt to predict El
Niño—a cyclical event in the Pacific Ocean that controls rainfall over
vast regions of land.
1986: “Inter-Ocean Exchange of Thermocline Water.” Arnold
Gordon, Journal of Geophysical Research. Investigated the
linkage of thermocline flow between oceans as part of the global
scale thermohaline circulation, suggesting a role of interocean
exchange in climate variability.
1986: “A 40-million-year lake record of early Mesozoic climatic
forcing.” P.E. Olsen, Science. Demonstrated that changes in
earth’s orbit left a mark in climate during the distant past, as they did
in the recent glacial epoch.
1987: “Age Dating and the Orbital Theory of the Ice Ages-Development of a High-Resolution-0 to 300,000-Year
Chronostratigraphy. “ Douglas Martinson et al, Quaternary
Research. Established a reliable chronology of climate events over
the last 300,000 years.
1989: “The role of ocean-atmosphere reorganizations in glacial
cycles.” Wallace Broecker and George Denton, Geochimica
Cosmochimica Acta. Explored the role of freshwater inflow into the
northern North Atlantic, via melting ice, in governing the oceanic
“conveyor belt,” and its possible association with large-scale climate
change.
1989: “17,000 year glacio-eustatic sea level record: influence of
glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deepocean circulation.” Richard Fairbanks, Nature. Further
documented the magnitude and rapidity of the sea-level rise
associated with the end of the last glaciation.
1994: “Forecasting Zimbabwean Maize Yield Using Eastern
Equatorial Pacific Sea-Surface Temperature.” Mark Cane et al,,
Nature. Cyclical climate-related phenomena such as El Nino and the
associated Southern Oscillation (ENSO) take place in the Pacific, but
areas far distant can feel their influence, affecting regional
economies. This paper explored the relationship, and predictability, of
climate variability to societal issues in terms of Zimbabwe’s vital
maize crop, which has suffered drought-induced famines linked to
ENSO.
1994: “Interdecadal variations in North-Atlantic sea-surface
temperatures and associated atmospheric conditions.”
Yochanan Kushnir, Journal of Climate. Presented evidence for a
pattern of ocean-atmosphere relationships associated with decadescale variability in the North Atlantic region. This was followed by
many other works that defined scales of climate variability associated
with the ocean.
1995: “Plio-Pleistocene African climate,” Peter deMenocal,
Science. This paper connected the evolution of humans with a shift
toward more arid conditions in the African climate after 2.8 million
years ago. It was one of the earlier Lamont papers showing climate’s
effects upon humans.
1995: “Temperature histories from tree rings and corals.”
Edward Cook, Climate Dynamics. This study presented
temperature trends over the past 1,000 years using signs left by tree
rings and corals. Many more such studies have followed, in different
regions of the world.
2000: “Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian Empire:
Evidence from the deep-sea.” Heidi Cullen, Peter deMenocal et
al., Geology. Linked the collapse of the Middle Eastern Akkadian
empire, around 4,200 years ago, to an abrupt, prolonged drought.
2001: “Persistent solar influence on north Atlantic climate
during the Holocene.” Gerard Bond et al., Science 294 (5549):
2130-2136. Demonstrated that climate change variations measured
in hundreds to thousands of is driven in large part by solar variability.
2002: “Global sea-air CO2 flux based on climatological surface
ocean pCO2, and seasonal biological and temperature effects.”
Taro Takahashi T., et al., Deep-Sea Research Part II-Topical
Studies in Oceanography. Mapped for the first time on a global
scale the exchange of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide between
the atmosphere and ocean.
2004: “Long-Term Aridity Changes in the Western United
States.” Edward Cook et al., Science. Using tree rings, showed
that an ongoing drought in the U.S. Southwest pales in comparison to
one about 1,000 years ago. The paper suggested that the region is
extremely vulnerable to disastrous drying during periods of climate
warming.
2007: “Model Projections of an imminent transition to a more
arid climate in southwestern North America.” Richard Seager et
al., Science. Showed a broad consensus among climate models that
the American southwest will dry significantly in the 21st century, and
that the long-term transition to a more arid climate may already be
underway.
2008: “In Situ Carbonation of Peridotite for CO2 Storage.” Peter
Kelemen and Juerg Matter, Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. Demonstrates a method for solidifying and
locking away excess atmospheric carbon dioxide in rocks by
speeding natural chemical reactions 1,000 times over.
2009: “Reconstruction of the History of Anthropogenic CO2
Concentrations in the Ocean.” Samar Khatiwala and Tim Hall,
Nature. Demonstrates that the world oceans are losing their ability to
absorb rising human emissions of carbon, taking in a shrinking
proportion since 2000; the first year-by year reconstruction of how
oceans have absorbed carbon since the start of the industrial age.