Why are the Younger Dryas reflected more dramatically in Greenland ice cores than Vostok (Russian) ice cores?
The important difference between the Arctic and Antarctic regions is that the latter is much more isolated from the climate in the rest of the globe. This is due to its geography which makes the Antarctic polar vortex much more important than the Arctic one. The Younger Dryas refers to the final glaciation preceding the abrupt climatic warming at the beginning of the Holocene. The Younger Dryas has been linked with a large-scale shift of the Gulf Stream southwards, resulting in ice age conditions in Europe. This shift may have been triggered by a suden discharge of fresh meltwater from the Noth American Laurentide icecap. In other words, it was a local event, limited to the Northern hemisphere.
