Summary
Sub-Antarctic islands are the only landmasses between Antarctica and South America, Africa and Australia where terrestrial climate and ecosystem records are available, making them crucial locations for linking southern mid and high latitude regions. However, there are few long-term climate and ecosystem datasets from the sub-Antarctic. The mid to high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere are dominated by the westerly winds. These are important because changes in their strength determine precipitation and temperature regimes. They are also a key factor influencing global carbon dioxide flux because the winds control the upwelling of deep ocean water rich in dissolved inorganic carbon, which in turn is exchanged with the atmosphere. Despite their importance, little is known about how the westerly winds changed in the past.