Articles | Volume 17, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1973-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1973-2021
Research article
 | 
01 Oct 2021
Research article |  | 01 Oct 2021

Extending and understanding the South West Western Australian rainfall record using a snowfall reconstruction from Law Dome, East Antarctica

Yaowen Zheng, Lenneke M. Jong, Steven J. Phipps, Jason L. Roberts, Andrew D. Moy, Mark A. J. Curran, and Tas D. van Ommen

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Cited articles

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Australian Government: Local Government Area [data set], available at: https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/8a8e0037-e474-422f-8026-241c7c88551f (last access: 30 September 2021), 2020. a, b
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Short summary
South West Western Australia has experienced a prolonged drought in recent decades. The causes of this drought are unclear. We use an ice core from East Antarctica to reconstruct changes in rainfall over the past 2000 years. We find that the current drought is unusual, with only two other droughts of similar severity having occurred during this period. Climate modelling shows that greenhouse gas emissions during the industrial era are likely to have contributed to the recent drying trend.
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