Dansgaard-Oeschger Event

Dansgaard-Oeschger event, also called D-O event, any of several dramatic but fleeting global climatic swings characterized by a period of abrupt warming followed by a period of slow cooling that occurred during the last ice age. Evidence of Dansgaard-Oeschger events is primarily observed in and around the North Atlantic Ocean, specifically in Greenland ice cores. Dansgaard-Oeschger events are named for Danish meteorologist and geophysicist Willi Dansgaard (a pioneer in ice core research) and Swiss geophysicist Hans Oeschger (a pioneer in research into the greenhouse effect and greenhouse gases).

Among the surprises that have emerged from analyses of oxygen isotopes in ice cores (long cylinders of ice collected by drilling through glaciers and ice sheets) has been the recognition of very sudden, short-lived climate changes. Ice core records in samples extracted from Greenland, Antarctica, Canada’s Arctic Archipelago, and high mountain glaciers in South America show that these climate changes have been large, very rapid, and globally synchronous. Over a period of a few years to a few decades, average temperatures have shifted by up to half of the temperature differences seen between the Pleistocene ice ages and their interglacial periods—that is, as much as 5–15 °C (9–27 °F). Although some scientists note that there may have been up to 25 D-O events during the most recent 120,000 years, detailed analyses of the most accurately dated Greenland ice cores show that 13 D-O events occurred between 11,600 and 45,000 years ago, with an average periodicity of 1,470 years. This regular occurrence has led to the suggestion of a 1,500-year cycle of climate change.

The most accurate records of abrupt climate changes come from Greenland ice cores, where high-resolution chronology is achieved by counting annual dust layers in the ice. The Greenland ice cores, together with those taken from other regions, display the global distribution of each D-O event; however, the time resolution from cores sampled from other locations is not nearly as good as in the Greenland cores.

D-O climatic oscillations typically consist of a rapid warming episode that unfolds over decades and is followed by a gradual cooling interval that extends across centuries or millennia. For example, the sudden warming episode that occurred approximately 11,500 years ago, marking the end of the Younger Dryas cool period, increased temperatures by about 5–7 °C (9–12.6 °F). This increase took place over roughly 30–40 years, peaking by as much as 8 °C (14.4 °F) over 40 years. In addition, the Little Ice Age that began during the 14th century has been interpreted by some scientists as a D-O oscillation.

The causal mechanisms behind the timing and amplitude of D-O events remain uncertain. Suggestions of solar and oceanic causes have been made, but no clear proof is yet available. In addition, some studies suggest that D-O events may be triggered by complex interactions between the atmosphere, the polar ice pack, and the oceans that affect how heat energy is transported toward the poles. Modeling studies suggest that the northern part of the subpolar gyre in the North Atlantic—a location where ocean currents and wind systems meet and thermal gradients are sharpest due to southward reaching ice—may play a critical role in the onset of D-O events under certain conditions.