Younger Dryas cold event
E179499
The Younger Dryas cold event was a brief, abrupt return to near-glacial conditions about 12,900–11,700 years ago that interrupted the general warming trend at the end of the last Ice Age.
All labels observed (4)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Younger Dryas | 3 |
| Younger Dryas cold event canonical | 1 |
| Younger Dryas stadial | 1 |
| Younger Dryas termination | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1572206 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Younger Dryas cold event Context triple: [Quaternary period, contains, Younger Dryas cold event]
-
A.
8.2 kiloyear event
The 8.2 kiloyear event was a sudden, short-lived global cooling episode during the early Holocene, likely triggered by massive meltwater outbursts disrupting North Atlantic ocean circulation.
-
B.
4.2 kiloyear event
The 4.2 kiloyear event was a major global climatic downturn around 2200 BCE, marked by widespread aridification and cooling that is thought to have contributed to the collapse or transformation of several ancient civilizations.
-
C.
Holocene climatic optimum
The Holocene climatic optimum was a warm period roughly 9,000–5,000 years ago when global temperatures, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, were higher than today, influencing the spread of forests and early human civilizations.
-
D.
Cenozoic glaciations
Cenozoic glaciations are a series of major ice age cycles during the Cenozoic Era that saw extensive growth and retreat of continental ice sheets, profoundly shaping Earth’s climate and landscapes.
-
E.
Wisconsin glaciation
The Wisconsin glaciation was the last major advance of continental ice sheets in North America during the Pleistocene, profoundly reshaping the continent’s landscapes and drainage systems.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Younger Dryas cold event Target entity description: The Younger Dryas cold event was a brief, abrupt return to near-glacial conditions about 12,900–11,700 years ago that interrupted the general warming trend at the end of the last Ice Age.
-
A.
8.2 kiloyear event
The 8.2 kiloyear event was a sudden, short-lived global cooling episode during the early Holocene, likely triggered by massive meltwater outbursts disrupting North Atlantic ocean circulation.
-
B.
4.2 kiloyear event
The 4.2 kiloyear event was a major global climatic downturn around 2200 BCE, marked by widespread aridification and cooling that is thought to have contributed to the collapse or transformation of several ancient civilizations.
-
C.
Holocene climatic optimum
The Holocene climatic optimum was a warm period roughly 9,000–5,000 years ago when global temperatures, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, were higher than today, influencing the spread of forests and early human civilizations.
-
D.
Cenozoic glaciations
Cenozoic glaciations are a series of major ice age cycles during the Cenozoic Era that saw extensive growth and retreat of continental ice sheets, profoundly shaping Earth’s climate and landscapes.
-
E.
Wisconsin glaciation
The Wisconsin glaciation was the last major advance of continental ice sheets in North America during the Pleistocene, profoundly reshaping the continent’s landscapes and drainage systems.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (54)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
abrupt climate change event
ⓘ
paleoclimatic event ⓘ stadial ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Younger Dryas cold event
ⓘ
surface form:
Younger Dryas
Younger Dryas cold event ⓘ
surface form:
Younger Dryas stadial
|
| associatedWith |
Laurentide Ice Sheet meltwater discharge
ⓘ
changes in North Atlantic thermohaline circulation ⓘ freshwater influx to the North Atlantic ⓘ meltwater from retreating ice sheets ⓘ |
| characterizedBy |
abrupt climate shift
ⓘ
expansion of glaciers in some regions ⓘ rapid cooling in the Northern Hemisphere ⓘ return to near-glacial conditions ⓘ strengthening of polar atmospheric circulation ⓘ |
| duration | approximately 1,200 years ⓘ |
| endTime | circa 11,700 years before present ⓘ |
| etymology | named for the arctic–alpine flower Dryas found in European pollen records ⓘ |
| evidenceFrom |
European pollen records
ⓘ
North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) ice core ⓘ
surface form:
Greenland ice cores
North Atlantic marine sediments ⓘ glacial geomorphology ⓘ lake sediment cores ⓘ |
| follows |
Last Glacial Period
ⓘ
surface form:
Bølling–Allerød interstadial
|
| hypothesizedCause |
catastrophic drainage of glacial Lake Agassiz
ⓘ
changes in atmospheric circulation patterns ⓘ changes in solar forcing ⓘ disruption of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation ⓘ extraterrestrial impact hypothesis ⓘ volcanic activity ⓘ |
| impactOn |
European climate
ⓘ
Natufian culture in the Levant ⓘ North Atlantic climate ⓘ Northern Hemisphere temperatures ⓘ distribution of boreal forests ⓘ global hydrological cycle ⓘ human Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic cultures ⓘ transition to early agriculture in the Near East ⓘ vegetation zones in Europe ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Dryas octopetala ⓘ |
| onsetRate | cooling over decades to a few years in Greenland ice-core records ⓘ |
| partOf |
Quaternary period climate history
ⓘ
last deglaciation ⓘ |
| precedes |
Holocene climatic optimum
ⓘ
Holocene ⓘ
surface form:
Holocene epoch
|
| significance |
important for understanding climate system thresholds and feedbacks
ⓘ
key example of abrupt climate change during deglaciation ⓘ |
| startTime | circa 12,900 years before present ⓘ |
| studiedIn |
Quaternary science
ⓘ
surface form:
Quaternary geology
archaeology ⓘ paleoclimatology ⓘ |
| temperatureChange | rapid cooling of several degrees Celsius in Greenland ⓘ |
| temporalLocation |
Last Glacial Period
ⓘ
surface form:
Late Pleistocene
end of the last glacial period ⓘ |
| terminationRate | warming over decades to a few years at its end ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Younger Dryas cold event Description of subject: The Younger Dryas cold event was a brief, abrupt return to near-glacial conditions about 12,900–11,700 years ago that interrupted the general warming trend at the end of the last Ice Age.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Younger Dryas
this entity surface form:
Younger Dryas
this entity surface form:
Younger Dryas termination
this entity surface form:
Younger Dryas
this entity surface form:
Younger Dryas stadial