Forest re-growth on medieval farmland after the Black Death pandemic—Implications for atmospheric CO2 levels

Hoof, T.B. van; Bunnik, F.P.M.; Waucomont, Jean G.M.; Kürschner, Wolfram M.; Visscher, Henk

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.12.013

Cited by 63 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…For the last millennium, pronounced preindustrial CO 2 variability has been reconstructed on the basis of needles of Tsuga heterophylla (western hemlock) from Mount Rainier, Washington, USA (29), and leaf remains of Quercus robur (English oak) from the southeastern part of the Netherlands (27,30). The timing of the detected CO 2 changes is in good agreement with perturbations observed in Antarctic ice core records.…”

supporting

confidence: 53%

“…It has been hypothesized that anthropogenic land-cover conversion in particular could have been critical in determining changes in distribution and size of terrestrial carbon sources and sinks (13,14). Successive pollen assemblages from leaf-bearing sediments have enabled direct temporal correlation of stomatabased proxy CO 2 data and a high-resolution reconstruction of vegetation and medieval land use for the period between A.D. 1000 and 1500 (30). The 13th-century CO 2 increase corresponds to a well known period of massive forest clearing in Europe.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the pollen record, prolonged effects of the mid-14th century plague pandemic, known as the Black Death, are clearly reflected by a period of significant agricultural regression and concomitant reclamation of abandoned farmland by woody vegetation. It is conceivable that the Black Death may have been a contributing factor to a process of CO 2 decline during the 14th and 15th centuries (30), but modeling exercises suggest that plague-induced carbon storage on land could have accounted for only a CO 2 decrease of not more than Ϸ2 ppmv (14).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The analysis focuses on the period between A.D. 1000 and 1500. At least in the Northern Hemisphere, this period includes a prolonged episode of climatic instability marking the transition between relatively warm weather conditions of the Medieval Climatic Optimum to the predominantly cooler conditions of the Little Ice Age (5,30).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A role for atmospheric CO ₂ in preindustrial climate forcing

Hoof

Wagner-Cremer

Kürschner

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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supporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A role for atmospheric CO ₂ in preindustrial climate forcing

Hoof

Wagner-Cremer

Kürschner

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Plague and warfare are other powerful factors resulting in reduced land pressure and advancement of reforested areas (Ruddiman 2003), for instance during the Black Death (van Hoof et al 2006) and major European conflicts as well as when new pathogens were introduced in America by the first European contact (Williams 2000). 9 1 ha = 0.01 km 2 (1 km 2 = 100 ha)…”

Section: Reforestationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of human land-use on the global carbon cycle during the last 6,000 years

Olofsson

Hickler

2007

Veget Hist Archaeobot

149

142

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Humanity has become a major actor within the Earth system, particularly through transforming large parts of the land surface and by altering the gaseous composition of the atmosphere. Deforestation for agricultural purposes started thousands of years ago, which might have resulted in a detectable human influence on climate much earlier than the industrial revolution.This study presents a first attempt to estimate dynamic changes in anthropogenic carbon fluxes over the last 6000 years. A global gridded data set on the spread of permanent and nonpermanent agriculture over this time period was developed and integrated within the LundPotsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM). The model was run with and without human land-use, and the differences in terrestrial carbon pools were calculated as an estimate of anthropogenic carbon release to the atmosphere.The modelled total carbon release during the industrial period (1850-1998) was 162 gigatons of carbon (GtC), of which 36 GtC originated from non-permanent agriculture. For preindustrial times (6000 BP until AD 1850), human-related carbon release was 79 GtC from permanent agriculture and an additional 35 GtC as a result of non-permanent agriculture. The modelled total carbon release was considerably lower than would be required for a substantial influence on the climate system. POPULÄRVETENSKAPLIG SAMMANFATTNINGMänniskan har blivit en viktig aktör inom systemet jorden, bland annat genom en betydande omvandling av stora landarealer och en stor påverkan på atmosfärens sammansättning. En omfattande avskogning för jordbruksändamål inleddes redan för tusentals år sedan vilket bland annat har medfört ett kolflöde till atmosfären. Enligt en nyligen framlagd hypotes skulle mänsklighetens markanvändning därmed troligen ha orsakat en märkbar klimatpåverkan långt tidigare än med den storskaliga förbränningen av fossila bränslen med resulterande koldioxidutsläpp som inleddes vid industrialiseringens begynnelse för 200 år sedan.Studien är ett första försök att uppskatta förändringar i antropogena (orsakade av människan) kolflöden på grund av markanvändning under de senaste 6000 åren. En global rutnätsbaserad databas över utvecklingen av permanent och icke-permanent jordbruk för tidsperioden har tagits fram och integrerats i Lund-Potsdam-Jena Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (LPJ-DGVM), som med klimatdata (temperatur, nederbörd, solinstrålning, koldioxidhalt) mekanistiskt simulerar växtlivet uppdelat i vegetationstyper. Modellen kördes under 6000 år såväl med som utan den globala databasen över markanvändning. Skillnaden i vegetationsoch markkollager mellan de två körningarna beräknades som en uppskattning av nettokolflödet till atmosfären på grund av mänsklig markanvändning.Det modellerade nettokolflödet orsakat av markanvändning under industrialiseringen (1850-1998) var 162 gigaton kol (GtC), av vilka 36 GtC var ett resultat av icke-permanent jordbruk. Som jämförelse uppskattas kolflödet från förbränning av fossila bränslen under samma tid till 262 GtC. Under...

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Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

Spaulding

Bohleber

et al. 2017

GeoHealth

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Contrary to widespread assumptions, next‐generation high (annual to multiannual) and ultra‐high (subannual) resolution analyses of an Alpine glacier reveal that true historical minimum natural levels of lead in the atmosphere occurred only once in the last ~2000 years. During the Black Death pandemic, demographic and economic collapse interrupted metal production and atmospheric lead dropped to undetectable levels. This finding challenges current government and industry understanding of preindustrial lead pollution and its potential implications for human health of children and adults worldwide. Available technology and geographic location have limited previous ice core investigations. We provide new high‐ (discrete, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP‐MS) and ultra‐high resolution (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, LA‐ICP‐MS) records of atmospheric lead deposition extracted from the high Alpine glacier Colle Gnifetti, in the Swiss‐Italian Alps. We show that contrary to the conventional wisdom, low levels at or approaching natural background occurred only in a single 4 year period in ~2000 years documented in the new ice core, during the Black Death (~1349–1353 C.E.), the most devastating pandemic in Eurasian history. Ultra‐high chronological resolution allows for the first time detailed and decisive comparison of the new glaciochemical data with historical records. Historical evidence shows that mining activity ceased upwind of the core site from ~1349 to 1353, while concurrently on the glacier lead (Pb) concentrations—dated by layer counting confirmed by radiocarbon dating—dropped to levels below detection, an order of magnitude beneath figures deemed low in earlier studies. Previous assumptions about preindustrial “natural” background lead levels in the atmosphere—and potential impacts on humans—have been misleading, with significant implications for current environmental, industrial, and public health policy, as well as for the history of human lead exposure. Trans‐disciplinary application of this new technology opens the door to new approaches to the study of the anthropogenic impact on past and present human health.

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Forest re-growth on medieval farmland after the Black Death pandemic—Implications for atmospheric CO2 levels

Cited by 63 publications

References 28 publications

A role for atmospheric CO ₂ in preindustrial climate forcing

A role for atmospheric CO ₂ in preindustrial climate forcing

Effects of human land-use on the global carbon cycle during the last 6,000 years

Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

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Forest re-growth on medieval farmland after the Black Death pandemic—Implications for atmospheric CO2 levels

Cited by 63 publications

References 28 publications

A role for atmospheric CO 2 in preindustrial climate forcing

A role for atmospheric CO 2 in preindustrial climate forcing

Effects of human land-use on the global carbon cycle during the last 6,000 years

Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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A role for atmospheric CO ₂ in preindustrial climate forcing

A role for atmospheric CO ₂ in preindustrial climate forcing