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Final Report Supplement - Joint Fire Science Program

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Zotero <strong>Report</strong> zotero://report/items/520446_XG98FERT-520446_89BHQIMS-520446...<br />

Type Journal Article<br />

Author Ulf Büntgen<br />

Author Willy Tegel<br />

Author Kurt Nicolussi<br />

Author Michael McCormick<br />

Author David Frank<br />

Author Valerie Trouet<br />

Author Jed O. Kaplan<br />

Author Franz Herzig<br />

Author Karl-Uwe Heussner<br />

Author Heinz Wanner<br />

Author Jürg Luterbacher<br />

Author Jan Esper<br />

Abstract Climate variations have influenced the agricultural productivity, health risk, and conflict level of preindustrial<br />

societies. Discrimination between environmental and anthropogenic impacts on past civilizations, however,<br />

remains difficult because of the paucity of high-resolution palaeoclimatic evidence. Here, we present tree<br />

ring–based reconstructions of Central European summer precipitation and temperature variability over the past<br />

2500 years. Recent warming is unprecedented, but modern hydroclimatic variations may have at times been<br />

exceeded in magnitude and duration. Wet and warm summers occurred during periods of Roman and medieval<br />

prosperity. Increased climate variability from ~AD 250 to 600 coincided with the demise of the Western Roman<br />

Empire and the turmoil of the Migration Period. Historical circumstances may challenge recent political and<br />

fiscal reluctance to mitigate projected climate change.<br />

Publication <strong>Science</strong><br />

Volume 331<br />

Issue 6017<br />

Pages 578-582<br />

Date 4 February 2011<br />

Journal Abbr <strong>Science</strong><br />

DOI 10.1126/science.1197175<br />

ISSN 0036-8075<br />

URL http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6017/578.full<br />

Date Added Thursday, August 25, 2011 10:47:25 AM<br />

Modified Wednesday, August 31, 2011 12:34:11 AM<br />

A 1,200-year perspective of 21st century drought in southwestern North America<br />

Type Journal Article<br />

Author Connie A. Woodhouse<br />

Author David M. Meko<br />

Author Glen M. MacDonald<br />

Author Dave W. Stahle<br />

Author Edward R. Cook<br />

Abstract A key feature of anticipated 21st century droughts in Southwest North America is the concurrence of elevated<br />

temperatures and increased aridity. Instrumental records and paleoclimatic evidence for past prolonged drought<br />

in the Southwest that coincide with elevated temperatures can be assessed to provide insights on temperaturedrought<br />

relations and to develop worst-case scenarios for the future. In particular, during the medieval period,<br />

∼AD 900–1300, the Northern Hemisphere experienced temperatures warmer than all but the most recent<br />

decades. Paleoclimatic and model data indicate increased temperatures in western North America of<br />

approximately 1 °C over the long-term mean. This was a period of extensive and persistent aridity over western<br />

North America. Paleoclimatic evidence suggests drought in the mid-12th century far exceeded the severity,<br />

duration, and extent of subsequent droughts. The driest decade of this drought was anomalously warm, though<br />

not as warm as the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The convergence of prolonged warming and arid<br />

conditions suggests the mid-12th century may serve as a conservative analogue for severe droughts that might<br />

occur in the future. The severity, extent, and persistence of the 12th century drought that occurred under natural<br />

climate variability, have important implications for water resource management. The causes of past and future<br />

2 of 626 9/1/2011 11:40 AM

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