Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response

Nature volume 415, pages517–520(2002)Cite this article

Abstract

The average air temperature at the Earth's surface has increased by 0.06 °C per decade during the 20th century1, and by 0.19 °C per decade from 1979 to 19982. Climate models generally predict amplified warming in polar regions3,4, as observed in Antarctica's peninsula region over the second half of the 20th century5,6,7,8,9. Although previous reports suggest slight recent continental warming9,10, our spatial analysis of Antarctic meteorological data demonstrates a net cooling on the Antarctic continent between 1966 and 2000, particularly during summer and autumn. The McMurdo Dry Valleys have cooled by 0.7 °C per decade between 1986 and 2000, with similar pronounced seasonal trends. Summer cooling is particularly important to Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems that are poised at the interface of ice and water. Here we present data from the dry valleys representing evidence of rapid terrestrial ecosystem response to climate cooling in Antarctica, including decreased primary productivity of lakes (6–9% per year) and declining numbers of soil invertebrates (more than 10% per year). Continental Antarctic cooling, especially the seasonality of cooling, poses challenges to models of climate and ecosystem change.

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Figure 1: Meteorological and ecosystem changes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, 1986–2000.
Figure 2

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Acknowledgements

We thank the personnel associated with the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research site who contributed to the collection of data. T. Chinn provided the three earliest data points on the lake level plot. W. Chapman assisted with the compilation of the continental figures. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, the United States Geological Survey, and the NASA Exobiology Program.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 845 West Taylor Street, 60607, USA

    Peter T. Doran

  2. Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, 334 Leon Johnson Hall, 59717, USA

    John C. Priscu

  3. Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, 1090 Carmack Road, Scott Hall, 43210, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    W. Berry Lyons

  4. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 105 South Gregory Street, 61801, USA

    John E. Walsh

  5. Department of Geology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, 97207, USA

    Andrew G. Fountain

  6. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, Boulder, 1560 30th Street, Campus Box 450, 80309, Colorado, USA

    Diane M. McKnight

  7. Department of Earth, Ecological and Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, 2801 W. Bancroft Street, 43606, USA

    Daryl L. Moorhead

  8. Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, 6182 Steele Hall, 03755, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA

    Ross A. Virginia

  9. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

    Diana H. Wall & Andrew N. Parsons

  10. USGS—Climate Program, Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, MS 980, 80225, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Gary D. Clow

  11. Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada, 2215 Raggio Parkway, 89512, USA

    Christian H. Fritsen

  12. Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, 94035, California, USA

    Christopher P. McKay

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  1. Peter T. Doran
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  2. John C. Priscu
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  3. W. Berry Lyons
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  4. John E. Walsh
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  5. Andrew G. Fountain
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  6. Diane M. McKnight
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  7. Daryl L. Moorhead
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  8. Ross A. Virginia
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  9. Diana H. Wall
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  10. Gary D. Clow
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  11. Christian H. Fritsen
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  12. Christopher P. McKay
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  13. Andrew N. Parsons
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Correspondence to Peter T. Doran.

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Doran, P., Priscu, J., Lyons, W. et al. Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response. Nature 415, 517–520 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature710

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