Description: The seasonality of hydroclimate during past periods of warmer than modern global temperatures is a critical component for understanding future climate change scenarios. Although only partially analogous to these scenarios, the last interglacial (LIG, Marine Isotope Stage 5e, ~127–117 ka) is a popular test bed. We present coral δ18O monthly resolved records from multiple Bonaire (southern Caribbean) fossil corals (Diploria strigosa) that date to between 130 and 118 ka. These records represent up to 37 years and cover a total of 105 years, offering insights into the seasonality and characteristics of LIG tropical Atlantic hydroclimate. Our coral δ18O records and available coral Sr/Ca-sea surface temperature (SST) records reveal new insights into the variable relationship between the seasonality of tropical Atlantic seawater δ18O (δ18Oseawater) and SST. Coral δ18O seasonality is found to covary with SST and insolation seasonality throughout the LIG, culminating in significantly higher than modern values at 124 and 126 ka. At 124 ka, we reconstruct a 2 month lead of the coral δ18O versus the Sr/Ca-SST annual cycle and increased δ18Oseawater seasonality. A fully coupled climate model simulates a concomitant increase of southern Caribbean Sea summer precipitation and depletion of summer δ18Oseawater. LIG hydroclimate at Bonaire differed from today's semiarid climate with a minor rainy season during winter. Cumulatively, our coral δ18O, δ18Oseawater, and model findings indicate a mid-LIG northward expansion of the South American Intertropical Convergence Zone into the southern Caribbean Sea, highlighting the importance of regional aspects within model and proxy reconstructions of LIG hydroclimate seasonality.

Description: The climate of the Sahara and Arabian Deserts during the Little Ice Age is not well known, due to a lack of annually resolved natural and documentary archives. We present an annual reconstruction of temperature and aridity derived from Sr/Ca and oxygen isotopes in a coral of the desert‐surrounded northern Red Sea. Our data indicate that the eastern Sahara and Arabian Deserts did not experience pronounced cooling during the late Little Ice Age (~1750–1850) but suggest an even more arid mean climate than in the following ~150 years. The mild temperatures are broadly in line with predominantly negative phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation during the Little Ice Age. The more arid climate is best explained by meridional advection of dry continental air from Eurasia. We find evidence for an abrupt termination of the more arid climate after 1850, coincident with a reorganization of the atmospheric circulation over Europe.