Ancient Ocean Temperatures Determines Future Climate Patterns

A team of Yale scientists are taking the temperature of ancient oceans from five million years ago, which is revealing new information on how global climate had changed since then.

In their study, the researchers have examined varying ocean temperatures over the past five million years, which has allowed to uncover new findings, according to the study. The researchers designed historical record for sea temperature gradients, which was compared to advanced climate model simulations.

The Yale researchers examined the climate evolution from the early Pliocene epoch (4 to 5 million years ago). They scrutinized the gradient development along the equator and mid-latitude regions to the North and South.

During the early Pliocene period, there were high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, almost identical to present atmospheric CO2 levels. The subtopics' and the Artic regions were warmer than today. The tropical Pacific had conditions that are similar to present El Nino, where these conditions lasted for thousands of years, according to the researchers. The researchers' new data revealed that water temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius warmer during the Pliocene period, compared to present day.

"The puzzle is how to explain this warmth during the Pliocene. Ocean temperature contrasts are a major part of this puzzle," Alexey Fedorov, lead author of the study and geology and geophysics professor at Yale, said in news release.

"It has been argued that temperature contrasts were weaker during the Pliocene, implying a weaker atmospheric circulation," Fedorov said. "In our study, we confirm the reduced contrasts and show a tight link between ocean east-west (equatorial) and north-south (equator to mid-latitudes) temperature variations."

The findings of this study were published in Nature Geoscience.

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