2500 Years of European Climate Variability and Human Susceptibility
Ulf Büntgen|Willy Tegel|Kurt Nicolussi|Michael McCormick|David Frank|Valérie Trouet|Jed O. Kaplan|Franz Herzig|Karl Uwe Heußner|Heinz Wanner|Jürg Luterbacher|Jan Esper
Climate variations influenced the agricultural productivity, health risk, and conflict level of preindustrial societies. Discrimination between environmental anthropogenic impacts on past civilizations, however, remains difficult because paucity high-resolution paleoclimatic evidence. We present tree ring-based reconstructions central European summer precipitation temperature variability over 2500 years. Recent warming is unprecedented, but modern hydroclimatic may have at times been exceeded in magnitude duration. Wet warm summers occurred during periods Roman medieval prosperity. Increased climate from ~250 to 600 C.E. coincided with demise western Empire turmoil Migration Period. Such historical data provide a basis for counteracting recent political fiscal reluctance mitigate projected change.
Science|PubMed