This work was published in Quaternary Science Reviews on Feb.9.

Researchers have studied the indicator of humification degree in different types of peatlands in published paleoclimate research. Combined with the study of modern humification processes, the humification degree was demonstrated to be sensitive to warm-season temperature changes and used for quantitative paleotemperature reconstruction.

They found that Holocene temperatures in the arid Central Asia region were cooler during the middle Holocene and warmer during the early and late Holocene. “Interestingly, the late Holocene warming is different from the model simulation result and the pollen-based temperature reconstruction in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) landmass,” said Dr. ZHAO Haiyan. “Greenhouse gas forcing was regarded as the main driver of this scenario”.

Moreover, seventeen centennial-timescales cold events linked to solar activities were identified in these high-resolution(20-year) records. Eight of them correlated with the North Atlantic ice events and more severe cooling events were observed in the early and late Holocene (temperature reduced by more than 0.5 °C) as compared to mid-Holocene cold events. 

This study suggests that arid regions of Central Asia, which are considered sensitive to global warming, may be affected by greenhouse forcing as early as the mid-Holocene. In addition, the occurrence of Centennial-timescale cold events in this region is influenced not only by solar activity but also by the strength of the westerlies. 

This work not only enriches the quantitative Holocene temperature reconstruction record of arid Central Asia, supporting the spatial pattern analysis of the Holocene temperature in the Northern Hemisphere but also provides an extensive analysis of the mechanism of the occurrence of centennial-scale cold events in this region. 

This also highlights the influence of greenhouse gas forcing and the strength of westerlies on the Holocene temperature variations in this region”，Dr. ZHAO Haiyan added.