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ACSYS Final Science Conference: Book of Abstracts
| P r e s e n t a t i o n M e t a d a t a |
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| Title | First-hand accounts from 19th century explorers' logs for the Canadian Arctic reflect similar climate conditions as present |
| First Author | Wood, Kevin R.
Organization: NOAA/PMEL
Country: USA
E-Mail: Kevin.R.Wood@noaa.gov |
| Co-Author | Overland, James E. |
| Session | 1- The State of the Arctic Climate System |
| Abstract | The widely perceived failure of 19th century expeditions to find and transit the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic is often attributed to extraordinary cold climatic conditions associated with the 'Little Ice Age' evident in proxy records. We use historical instrumental and descriptive records to determine if environmental conditions observed first-hand by 19th century explorers are consistent with this hypothesis. An examination of 44 explorers' logs for the western Arctic from 1818 to 1910 reveals that climate indicators such as navigability, the distribution and thickness of annual sea ice, monthly surface air temperature and the onset of melt and freeze were within the present range of variability. We find little evidence of extreme conditions indicative of a markedly colder climate epoch during this period. |
| Type | Poster 27 |
| Download | Poster: PDF, 6.5 MB |
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