Large changes in biomass burning over the last millennium inferred from paleoatmospheric ethane in polar ice cores.

ABSTRACT: Biomass burning drives changes in greenhouse gases, climate-forcing aerosols, and global atmospheric chemistry. There is controversy about the magnitude and timing of changes in biomass burning emissions on millennial time scales from preindustrial to present and about the relative importance of climate change and human activities as the underlying cause. Biomass burning is one of two notable sources of ethane in the preindustrial atmosphere. Here, we present ice core ethane measurements from Antarctica and Greenland that contain information about changes in biomass burning emissions since 1000 CE (Common Era). The biomass burning emissions of ethane during the Medieval Period (1000-1500 CE) were higher than present day and declined sharply to a minimum during the cooler Little Ice Age (16

SUBMITTER: Nicewonger MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6298114 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature