CLIMATE OF THE LAST 500 YEARS - HIGH-RESOLUTION ICE CORE RECORDS

Precipitation accumulating on the Earth's ice sheets and ice caps reco rds a variety of physical and chemical information about the atmospher e and, in some cases, provides unique insight to both the history and the mechanics of the Earth's environmental system. High resolution (we ll-dated) dust records from both polar ice sheets suggest a linkage be tween increased atmospheric dust and cooler temperatures over Antarcti ca, but a similar relationship is not observed in ice cores from eithe r Greenland or China. Net accumulation histories for the last 490 year s reveal no discernible global pattern although interesting regional d ifferences and similarities exist. Excess (non-sea salt) sulfate profi les provide (SIC)