The location and intensity of the austral westerlies strongly influence southern hemisphere precipitation and heat transport with consequences for human society and ecosystems. With future warming, global climate models project increased aridity in southern mid-latitudes related to continued poleward contraction of the austral westerlies. We utilize Antarctic ice cores to investigate past and t...

[1] The accumulation of wind blown (eolian) dust in deep‐sea sediments reflects the aridity/humidity conditions of the continental region supplying the dust, as well as the “gustiness” of the climate system. Detailed studies of Pleistocene glacial‐interglacial dust fluxes suggest changes in accumulation rates corresponding to orbital variations in solar insolation (Milankovitch cycles). While t...

Two sediment records of dust deposition from Fish Lake, in southern Colorado, offer a new perspective on southwest United States (Southwest) aridity and dustiness over the last ~3000 years. Micro scanning X-ray fluorescence and grain size analysis provide separate measures of wind-deposited dust in the lake sediment. Together these new records confirm anomalous dustiness in the 19th and 20th ce...

Leaf-wax hydrogen isotope composition (dDwax) is increasingly applied as a proxy for hydroclimate variability in tropical paleoclimate archives, but the factors controlling dDwax in the tropics remain poorly understood. We measured dDwax and the stable carbon isotope composition of leaf-waxes (dCwax), including both n-alkanes and n-alkanoic acids, from modern lake sediments and soils across a m...

Aim Aridity gradients are of great interest for understanding the responses biodiversity to water availability and stress. However, little is known about many animal groups, which crucial assessing effects climate change. Here, we study aridity on dung beetle communities, a group with well-known large-scale environmental gradients. Location Sahara, Kalahari Chihuahuan deserts. Taxa Dung beetles...

The Quaternary Period is characterized by dramatic global climatic changes. fossil deposits, which can offer excellent stratigraphic resolution, provide a unique opportunity to understand how fauna respond past environmental change. Here, we test if the herpetofauna of McEachern’s Deathtrap Cave, late Pleistocene Holocene pitfall trap deposit from Victoria, Australia, shows climate-related shif...

Abstract Precipitation (PPT) is the primary climatic determinant of plant growth and aboveground net productivity (ANPP) for many world’s major terrestrial ecosystems. Thus, relationships between PPT can provide insight into how changes in climate may alter ecosystem functions globally. Spatial PPT–ANPP grasslands are found remarkably similar around world, but whether they change during periods...

Nearly 0.8 million hectares of land were burned in the North American Pacific Northwest (PNW) over two weeks under record-breaking fuel aridity and winds during extraordinary 2020 fire season, representing a rare example megafires forests west Cascade Mountains. We quantified relative influence weather, vegetation, topography on patterns high burn severity (>75% tree mortality) among five sy...