A climate reconstruction of Sydney Cove, New South Wales, using weather journal and documentary data, 1788-1791

Gergis, Joëlle; Karoly, David J.; Allan, R. J.

doi:10.22499/2.5802.001

Cited by 36 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Documentary material provides a societal record of the impact of past climate in areas of Australia where observational or annually resolved palaeoclimate data such as tree rings are limited. Surprisingly, unlike Europe and the Americas, Australian historical records remain virtually untapped for use in mainstream climate analysis (Gergis et al ., , ). As such, immense opportunity exists to use historical archives to develop our understanding of Australian climate history and its impact on past societies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 1: consolidating evidence from pre‐instrumental documentary sources, 1788–1860

Fenby

Gergis

2012

Intl Journal of Climatology

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This study fills an important gap in south‐eastern Australia's climate record by compiling qualitative historical data from the time of first European settlement of Australia in 1788 until widespread meteorological observations become available in 1860. In this study, we consolidate twelve documentary‐based rainfall chronologies for five sub‐regions of south‐eastern Australia (SEA) over the 1788–1860 period using a range of secondary historical sources. Our analysis identified 27 drought years in SEA between 1788 and 1860, and 14 years of high rainfall in New South Wales (NSW) between 1788 and 1840. Given that our current understanding of Australian drought is still largely confined to the post‐1900 period covered by instrumental records, we provide an outline of the drought and wet periods to provide a consolidated reference of historical accounts of lesser known pre‐instrumental rainfall variations for researchers working in the field. This index is also intended to serve as an independent inter‐annual verification source for palaeoclimate reconstructions being developed in the Australian region. This study confirms that SEA has experienced considerable rainfall variability that has influenced past Australian societies since the first European settlement in 1788. Of the droughts identified in this study, 1837–1841 was the longest and most widespread event influencing all subregions. The 1793–1809 period was particularly wet, with periods of heavy rainfall often resulting in devastating floods on the Hawkesbury River region of Sydney. Despite the geographical biases present in the documentary material, it is clear that historical records provide important information on rainfall variations in SEA and their societal impacts over the 1788–1860 pre‐instrumental period. The results presented here provide an important basis for developing an extended rainfall index for eastern NSW from 1788–2008, and is the subject of part 2 of this study (Gergis J, Ashcroft L. 2012. Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 2: a comparison of documentary, early instrumental and palaeoclimate records, 1788–2008. International Journal of Climatology).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 1: consolidating evidence from pre‐instrumental documentary sources, 1788–1860

Fenby

Gergis

2012

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Given the restricted availability of annually resolved palaeoclimate records from the Australian region (Neukom and Gergis, ), it is essential to recover as much climate information as possible from historical archives to reconstruct past climate variations. Documentary records not only provide a societal record of the impact of past climate in areas of Australia where instrumental or annually resolved palaeoclimate data such as tree rings are limited, but also offer an important way of verifying early instrumental and palaeoclimate reconstructions (Gergis et al , , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 2: a comparison of documentary, early instrumental and palaeoclimate records, 1788–2008

Gergis

Ashcroft

2012

Intl Journal of Climatology

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ABSTRACT:In part 1 of this study, Fenby and Gergis (Fenby C, Gergis J. 2012. A rainfall history of south-eastern Australia Part 1: comparing evidence from documentary and palaeoclimate records, 1788-1860. International Journal of Climatology) established a documentary chronology of droughts and wet years in south-eastern Australia (SEA) from first European settlement in 1788 until widespread meteorological observations begin in 1860. We now compare this newly developed documentary record to a five-station network of historical instrumental rainfall observations from the Sydney region for 1832-1859, and a 45-station rainfall network from a broader range of SEA locations over the 1860-2008 period. After assessing geographical biases in the documentary and instrumental record due to population settlement, we identify eastern New South Wales (NSW) as the subregion of SEA that is capable of providing a continuous record of wet and dry years back to 1788. Documentary, historical instrumental and modern rainfall observations are then combined to develop an eastern NSW drought and wet year index over the 1788-2008 period. The eastern NSW drought and wet year index is compared to palaeoclimate reconstructions of SEA rainfall and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) since 1788. We investigate the relationship between droughts and wet years in eastern NSW and ENSO back to 1788, noting that the coastal NSW rainfall-ENSO relationship is not as pronounced as in inland areas of eastern Australia. While it is clear that ENSO influences rainfall variability in the broader SEA region, the signal recorded in coastal NSW is weak. This is most likely reflecting local orographic rainfall effects and deficiencies in the wet phase of the documentary record. Nonetheless, this study is the first of its kind in the Australasian region to combine documentary, early instrumental and modern meteorological rainfall observations using internationally comparable techniques, a significant advance in historical climatology for the region. The results of this study provide an opportunity for Australia to be included in cross-regional drought comparisons from the Indo-Pacific regions of the Southern Hemisphere.Additional Supporting information may be found in the online version of this article.

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“…In this study the most common cause of death, eclipsing all others, was hyperthermia, that is known to eventuate in some P. poliocephalus and P. alecto when ambient temper a tures reach at least 42°C (Welbergen et al, 2008). This phenomenon is not new; Ratcliffe (1931) reported several instances early in the 20th Century when large numbers of flying-foxes had perished during heat-waves and Gergis et al (2009) described one much earlier instance in the summer of 1790-1791, when many thousands of 'bats' had died in Par ra matta, Sydney. Welbergen et al (2008) argued that the elevated levels of death seen in recent times are the result of climate change; this may be so, in which case efforts to reduce anthropogenic causes of climate change may have a beneficial impact in reducing flying-fox mortality from this cause.…”

Section: Causes Of Death Of P Poliocephalusmentioning

confidence: 70%

Life Expectancy, Causes of Death and Movements of the Grey-Headed Flying-Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) Inferred from Banding

Tidemann

Nelson

2011

Acta Chiropterologica

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A climate reconstruction of Sydney Cove, New South Wales, using weather journal and documentary data, 1788-1791

Cited by 36 publications

References 19 publications

Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 1: consolidating evidence from pre‐instrumental documentary sources, 1788–1860

Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 1: consolidating evidence from pre‐instrumental documentary sources, 1788–1860

Rainfall variations in south‐eastern Australia part 2: a comparison of documentary, early instrumental and palaeoclimate records, 1788–2008

Life Expectancy, Causes of Death and Movements of the Grey-Headed Flying-Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) Inferred from Banding

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