Scientists from the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany studied Arctic geological data and found that 115-130 thousand years ago, summers in Arctic Siberia during the last interglacial were 10 degrees Celsius warmer than today.
As Day.Az reports with reference to Lenta.ru, the study was published in the journal Climate of the Past.
Experts analyzed the landscapes of permafrost regions, where the soil remains frozen for at least two years. The main focus was on thermokarst topography – depressions and mounds that form when ice-rich permafrost melts. Such landscape changes lead to the formation of thermokarst lakes, reflecting the dynamics of past climate.
For the analysis, the researchers drilled sediment cores along the coast of the Dmitry Laptev Strait in Siberia between 1999 and 2014. These cores contained alternating layers of peat, clays and silts that preserved plant and animal materials. Scientists have used fossils of plants (pollen, leaves, stems), insects (beetles and midges), and crustaceans and mollusks to reconstruct ancient ecosystems and climates.
It turned out that at the beginning of the last interglacial, steppes and tundra-steppes dominated, and at its height birch and larch forests appeared, stretching 270 kilometers north of the modern forest border. Fossil material indicated significant warming, with average temperatures in the warmest month reaching 15 degrees Celsius and summer warming 10 degrees Celsius above current levels. Minimum winter temperatures were minus 38 degrees Celsius, comparable to modern values of around minus 34 degrees Celsius.
The researchers noted that the experience of the last interglacial is important for understanding the Earth’s response to global warming. Contemporary permafrost thawing and sea ice decline are already being recorded, highlighting the need for further research.