UPDATE: The paper itself is available below.

There is a new paper published yesterday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters from NASA GISS/Columbia University and Brown University titled Hydroclimate of the northeastern United States is highly sensitive to solar forcing

Key Points

Holocene northeast US hydrological change is consistent with solar forcing

Small changes in solar forcing are amplified in our region by Arctic Oscillation

Leaf-wax abundances in peatlands provide high-resolution climate information

This paper looks at hydrogen isotope proxy records over the past 6800 years and finds that the hydroclimate of the Northeastern U.S. is “highly sensitive” to solar activity.

The abstract of the paper says:

“The Sun may be entering a weak phase, analogous to the Maunder minimum, which could lead to more frequent flooding in the northeastern US at this multidecadal timescale.”

It is interesting to see this solar-hydro relationship defined in the USA. Previous similar works include defining a solar-hyrdo relationship to Nile River flow in Africa.

Here’s the paper and abstract:

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 39, L04707, 5 PP., 2012

doi:10.1029/2011GL050720

Hydroclimate of the northeastern United States is highly sensitive to solar forcing

Jonathan E. Nichols

Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, New York, USA

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Earth Institute at Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA

Yongsong Huang

Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Dramatic hydrological fluctuations strongly impact human society, but the driving mechanisms for these changes are unclear. One suggested driver is solar variability, but supporting paleoclimate evidence is lacking. Therefore, long, continuous, high-resolution records from strategic locations are crucial for resolving the scientific debate regarding sensitivity of climate to solar forcing. We present a 6800–year, decadally-resolved biomarker and multidecadally-resolved hydrogen isotope record of hydroclimate from a coastal Maine peatland, The Great Heath (TGH). Regional moisture balance responds strongly and consistently to solar forcing at centennial to millennial timescales, with solar minima concurrent with wet conditions. We propose that the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation (AO/NAO) can amplify small solar fluctuations, producing the reconstructed hydrological variations. The Sun may be entering a weak phase, analogous to the Maunder minimum, which could lead to more frequent flooding in the northeastern US at this multidecadal timescale. ================================================================= UPDATE: Here is the full paper (PDF)

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