Glaciers

Number of papers: 2

Alpine climate during the Holocene: a comparison
between records of glaciers, lake sediments and solar
activity — Journal of Quaternary Science, 2011; Nussbaumer et al.

“Solar activity varies with the Hallstatt periodicity of about 2000 years. Hallstatt minima are identified around 500, 2500 and 5000 a. Around these times grand solar minima (such as the Maunder Minimum) occurred in clusters coinciding with colder Alpine climate expressed by glacier advances. During the Hallstatt maxima around 0, 2000 and 4500 a, the Alpine glaciers generally retreated, indicating a warmer climate. … On shorter timescales, however, the influence of the Sun cannot be as easily detected in Alpine climate change, indicating that in addition to solar forcing, volcanic influence and internal climate variations have played an important role.”

Is the decline of ice on Kilimanjaro unprecedented in the Holocene? — The Holocene, 2010; Kaser et al.

The authors show that glacial ice, particularly at the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, has nothing to do with temperature changes, because it’s always below freezing, but rather with moisture. They show that variability is high, with ice fields coming and going over the centuries. Nothing to do with CO2.