Foreword to the special issue: Arctic Palaeoclimate and Its Extremes (APEX)

Abstract

The recent mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet (Chen et al. 2006), the observed increases in the velocity of its fast-flowing outlets (Luthcke et al. 2006) and the melting of the permafrost demonstrate the profound changes occurring in the Arctic region as a result of global warming (ACIA 2005). This is corroborated by systematic satellite monitoring that shows there has been a progressive decrease in the extent of sea ice over the last 30 years, with a record low in 2007 (Comiso et al. 2008). Forward modelling predicts accelerated rates of sea-ice disintegration and the almost complete disappearance of Arctic Ocean summer sea-ice cover within this century. It is clear that the environment in the Arctic is changing at a pace not previously monitored by humankind. It is equally clear, however, that to place the current changes in a millennial time perspective, we need to know more about the Pleistocene natural variability and amplitude of, for example, the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic Ocean sea ice and permafrost. Such a longer time perspective can only be established through international collaborative and multidisciplinary studies of nature’s own archives, such as marine and terrestrial stratigraphic records, sediment distribution and landforms.