ArticleNature communications2024
The 4.2 ka event is not remarkable in the context of Holocene climate variability.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Unveiling climate transformations in the northwestern Caucasus: the Middle Holocene divergence of landscape evolution.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Holocene transition from climate-driven to human-dominated wetland dynamics in Sinchang-dong, South Korea.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- An absolutely dated mid-Holocene English yew chronology offers new opportunities for archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research.The Holocene · 2026Article
- Precise chronology of hydrological changes at ∼4.2 kyr in Central China to assess the impact of flooding on Neolithic societies.National science review · 2026Article
- Population genetic structure reveals asymmetric hybridization between Pinus pumila and P. parviflora var. Pentaphylla in the Hakkoda Mountains, Northern Japan.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Ancient DNA reveals the population interactions and a Neolithic patrilineal community in Northern Yangtze Region.Nature communications · 2025Article
- 8,000 years of wild and domestic animal body size data reveal long-term synchrony and recent divergence due to intensified human impact.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- The Role of Summer Temperature on Aquatic Insect Diversity at Multi-Decadal Scales Within the Holocene.Global change biology · 2025Article
- Low variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation throughout the Holocene.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Human and climate impacts on the alpine Critical Zone over the past 10,000 y.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Fire history and treeline elevation in the Apennines: insights from pedo-anthracological analysis on Monte Cervati, Southern Italy.Frontiers in plant science · 2025Article
- Human-environment interaction during the Holocene in Eastern South America: Rapid climate changes and population dynamics.PloS one · 2025Article
- The 4.2 ka event is not remarkable in the context of Holocene climate variability.Nature communications · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The "4.2 ka event" is a commonly described abrupt climate excursion that occurred about 4200 years ago. However, the extent to which this event is coherent across regional and larger scales is unclear. To objectively assess climate excursions in the Holocene we compile 1142 paleoclimate datasets that span all continents and oceans and include a wide variety of archive and proxy types. We analyze these data to determine the timing, significance and spatial imprint of climate excursions using an objective method that quantifies local, regional and global significance. Site-level excursions in temperature and hydroclimate are common throughout the Holocene, but significant global-scale excursions are rare. The most prominent excursion occurred 8200 years ago, when cold and dry conditions formed a large, significant excursion centered in the North Atlantic. We find additional significant excursions between 1600 and 1000 years ago, which agree with tree-ring data and annual-scale paleoclimate reconstructions, adding confidence and context to our findings. In contrast, although some datasets show significant climate excursions 4200 years ago, they do not occur in large, coherent spatial regions. Consequently, like most other periods in the Holocene, the "4.2 ka event" is not a globally significant climate excursion.
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