Five centuries of Central European temperature extremes reconstructed from tree-ring density and documentary evidence

BATTIPAGLIA, Giovanna, David FRANK, Ulf BÜNTGEN, Petr DOBROVOLNÝ, Rudolf BRÁZDIL, Christian PFISTER and Jan ESPER. Five centuries of Central European temperature extremes reconstructed from tree-ring density and documentary evidence. Global and Planetary Change. Elsevier, 2010, vol. 72, No 10, p. 182–191. ISSN 0921-8181.

Basic information

• Original name: Five centuries of Central European temperature extremes reconstructed from tree-ring density and documentary evidence
• Authors: BATTIPAGLIA, Giovanna (380 Italy), David FRANK (756 Switzerland), Ulf BÜNTGEN (756 Switzerland, guarantor), Petr DOBROVOLNÝ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Rudolf BRÁZDIL (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution), Christian PFISTER (756 Switzerland) and Jan ESPER (276 Germany).
• Edition: Global and Planetary Change, Elsevier, 2010, 0921-8181.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 10500 1.5. Earth and related environmental sciences
• Country of publisher: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Impact factor: Impact factor: 3.351
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14310/10:00044264
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• UT WoS: 000280040300009
• Keywords in English: temperature extremes maximum latewood density documentary evidence European Alps Central Europe palaeoclimatology
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Future climate change will likely in"uence the frequency and intensity of weather extremes. As such events are by de!nition rare, long records are required to understand their characteristics, drivers, and consequences on ecology and society. Herein we provide a unique perspective on regional-scale temperature extremes over the past millennium, using three tree-ring maximum latewood density (MXD) chronologies from higher elevations in the European Alps. We verify the tree-ring-based extremes using documentary evidences from Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Central Europe that allowed the identi!cation of 44 summer extremes over the 1550-2003 period. These events include cold temperatures in 1579, 1628, 1675, and 1816, as well as warm ones in 1811 and 2003. Prior to 1550, we provide new evidence for cold (e.g., 1068 and 1258) and warm (e.g., 1333) summers derived from the combined MXD records and thus help to characterize high-frequency temperature variability during medieval times. Spatial coherence of the reconstructed extremes is found over Switzerland, with most signatures even extending across Central Europe. We discuss potential limitations of the tree-ring and documentary archives, including the (i) ability of MXD to particularly capture extremely warm temperatures, (ii) methodological identi!cation and relative de!nition of extremes, and (iii) placement of those events in the millennium-long context of low-frequency climate change.