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Antarctic radiocarbon from nuclear bomb tests indicates climate change

Bomb spike hints on climate change AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION 29 Nov 11 The discovery, reported in Global Change Biology, comes after researchers from the University of Wollongong (UOW) and the Australian Nuclear Science and TechnologyOrganisation (ANSTO) found that the dramatic increase in atmospheric radiocarbon (¹⁴C), known as the ‘bomb spike’, was detectable in living moss shoots 50 years after nuclear testing, and could be used to track changes in moss growth rates……Bomb spike hints on climate change. AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION, 29 NOVEMBER 2011  Chemical clues absorbed from the atmosphere by Antarctic mosses during nuclear tests in the 1950s and 60s, have provided scientists with evidence of significant climate change in East Antarctica.

‘Our results point to a profound influence of recent climate change on the Antarctic flora, with δ¹³C profiles indicating the observed effects of temperature and wind speed are most likely due to the impact of these climate variables on water availability,’ Professor Robinson says. http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20112811-22889.html

November 30, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ANTARCTICA, climate change