ChronoClimate: Deeper insights into abrupt climate change using a new chronological platform

Abrupt climate change constitutes an major risk for humanity and is at the same time an outstanding research challenge with enormous potential for increasing understanding of the interplay between the components of the climate system-the oceans, the atmosphere, and the cryosphere. While the main focus of the project is the climate change of the past, the increased process understanding can largely be transferred to the climate of the future, thereby improving the predictive power of climate models, as well as identifying under which conditions abrupt climate change occurs.

The first part is focused on improving Greenland ice-core chronologies and making new links to Antarctic ice cores. The second part of the project aims to establish a new common chronological platform for climate records by integrating information from e.g. ice cores, marine sediments, and caves, thereby quantifying and resolving differences in dating methodologies. Beryllium-10 measurements will enable new synchronization opportunities between ice cores and other climate data, circumventing problematic assumptions about globally synchronous climate change. Finally, based on the aggregated data series and observed timing differences between changes in different parts of the climate system, we will formulate and test hypotheses about mechanisms of abrupt climate change.