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Paleoclimatology (thesaurus)

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Concept information

natural phenomenon > climatic phenomenon > climate cooling

Preferred term

climate cooling  

Definition

  • Climate cooling is a climatic change consisting of a drop in average temperatures that has occurred over very long periods, culminating in the ice ages. Alternating with periods of global warming, it is completely unrelated to human activity on the planet. In a global warming context, certain regions, particularly in the oceans, for example as a result of changes in marine currents, the stratification of cold or salty waters (denser) and/or the wind regime, linked to the melting of polar ice, may be exposed to cooling. This could soon be the case in the sub-polar North Atlantic sub-region, which already experienced a rapid cooling episode around 1970. Several factors need to be taken into account, not least solar activity. The Dalton Minimum, which occurred between around 1790 and 1830, the Maunder Minimum between 1645 and 1715 and the Spörer Minimum between 1420 and 1570 all had climatic repercussions on average global temperatures, with a more marked impact on Europe and North America. Variations in solar activity can be determined from sunspot observations made daily since the beginning of the 15th century, and with greater certainty for nearly 30 years now thanks to satellite observations. Since 2006, the minimum solar activity during the transition from cycle 23 to cycle 24 has lasted at least 10 months longer than normal, and since then solar activity has remained very low, with fewer than 25 sunspots per month. (Adapted and translated from: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refroidissement_climatique#:~:text=Le%20refroidissement%20climatique%20est%20un,cours%20des%20600%20derni%C3%A8res%20ann%C3%A9es.)

Broader concept

Narrower concepts

Entry terms

  • climatic cooling
  • cooling
  • cooling episode
  • cooling phase

In other languages

  • refroidissement climatique

    French

  • épisode de refroidissement
  • phase de refroidissement
  • refroidissement
  • refroidissement du climat

URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-9QHZB08T-S

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