July–August temperature at Edinburgh between 1721 and 1975 from tree-ring density and width data

Hughes, Malcolm K.; Schweingruber, Fritz Hans; Cartwright, David E.; Kelly, P. M.

doi:10.1038/308341a0

Cited by 88 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As there are no neighboring stations with which to compare the early Sitka record, and these data were not included in the corrected GHCN record, we hypothesize that the problem may lie in the early instrumental data. Similar observations have also been made in Europe between dendroclimatic reconstructions and long early instrumental records (Hughes et al 1984;Bü ntgen et al 2005;Frank and Esper 2005;Wilson et al 2005).…”

Section: Calibration and Verification Of Goa January-september Tempersupporting

confidence: 63%

Cycles and shifts: 1,300 years of multi-decadal temperature variability in the Gulf of Alaska

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Gulf of Alaska (GOA) is highly sensitive to shifts in North Pacific climate variability. Here we present an extended tree-ring record of JanuarySeptember GOA coastal surface air temperatures using tree-ring width data from coniferous trees growing in the mountain ranges along the GOA. The reconstruction , based on living trees, explains 44% of the temperature variance, although, as the number of chronologies decreases back in time, this value decreases to, and remains around~30% before 1840. Verification of the calibrated models is, however, robust. Utilizing sub-fossil wood, we extend the GOA reconstruction back to the early eighth century. The GOA reconstruction correlates significantly (95% CL) with both the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index (0.53) and North Pacific Index (-0.42) and therefore likely yields important information on past climate variability in the North Pacific region. Intervention analysis on the GOA reconstruction identifies the known twentieth century climate shifts around the 1940s and 1970s, although the mid-1920s shift is only weakly expressed. In the context of the full 1,300 years record, the well studied 1976 shift is not unique. Multi-taper method spectral analysis shows that the spectral properties of the living and sub-fossil data are similar, with both records showing significant (95% CL) spectral peaks at 9-11, 13-14 and 18-19 years. Singular spectrum analysis identifies (in order of importance) significant oscillatory modes at 18.7, 50.4, 38.0, 91.8, 24.4, 15.3 and 14.1 years. The amplitude of these modes varies through time. It has been suggested (Minobe in Geophys Res Lett 26: [855][856][857][858] 1999) that the regime shifts during the twentieth century can be explained by the interaction between pentadecadal (50.4 years) and bidecadal (18.7 years) oscillatory modes. Removal of these two modes of variance from our GOA time series does indeed remove the twentieth century shifts, but many are still identified prior to the twentieth century. Our analysis suggests that climate variability of the GOA is very complex, and that much more work is required to understand the underlying oscillatory behavior that is observed in instrumental and proxy records from the North Pacific region.

show abstract

Section: Calibration and Verification Of Goa January-september Tempersupporting

confidence: 63%

Cycles and shifts: 1,300 years of multi-decadal temperature variability in the Gulf of Alaska

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Maximum late-wood density and ring-width measurements from pines in the Scottish highlands have been used to reconstruct July-August temperatures for Edinburgh (Hughes et al, 1984). Measurement of maximum late-wood density may strengthen the yew\climate correlations, and the promise of this technique for a conifer such as yew is clearly high.…”

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

The dendrochronological potential of modern yew (Taxus baccata) with special reference to yew from Hampton Court Palace, UK

Moir¹

1999

New Phytologist

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Modern yew (Taxus baccata) is demonstrated to have considerable potential for dendrochronological use. A replicated 303 yr chronology has been formed from Hampton Court Palace yew and cross-matches well with a number of different tree species, including oak. Growth is positively correlated with rainfall but inversely related to late summer temperature. Range limits and present and prehistoric sources of yew are also briefly discussed, highlighting the future potential of yew to become the third major tree species for British dendrochronological study.

show abstract

“…While "strip-bark" samples should be avoided for temperature reconstructions, attention should also be paid to the confounding effects of anthropogenic nitrogen deposition (Vitousek et al 1997), since the nutrient conditions of the soil determine wood growth response to increased atmospheric CO 2 (Kostiainen et al 2004). However, in forest areas below the treeline where modern nitrogen input could be expected to influence dendroclimatic records, such as Scotland (Hughes et al 1984) and Maine (Conkey 1986), the relationship between temperature and tree ring parameters was stable over time.…”

Section: Temperature Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regional tree ring networks typically have strong intersite correlations (e.g., Hughes et al 1984, Figure 2), and continental-to-hemispheric-scale networks are able to reproduce synoptic-scale climatological patterns (Fritts 1991. When based on a number of sites in the Northern Hemisphere, dendroclimatic reconstructions of surface temperatures show that the 20th century warming was unusual since at least 1500 (D'Arrigo et al 2006; Figures 4-1 and 4-2), in agreement with independent reconstructions derived from written documents (Xoplaki et al 2005), borehole temperatures , and glacier lengths (Oerlemans 2005a).…”

Section: Temperature Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years

North¹

2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Our understanding of climate and how it has varied over time is advancing rapidly as new data are acquired and new investigative instruments and methods are employed. Thus in 2005, I suggested to the U.S. Congress that the National Research Council (NRC) could help answer questions about the data and methods that have been used in constructing records of Earth's surface temperatures from times when there were no scientific instruments, using proxy indicators. How has temperature varied over the last 2,000 years? How certain is the answer to this question? Subsequently, this study was requested by Representative Sherwood Boehlert, chairman of the Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives. Chairman Boehlert asked for a clear and concise report in a relatively short period of time, and the NRC agreed to undertake the study quickly. An ad hoc committee was formed, with the group carefully composed to include the breadth and depth of expertise and perspectives needed to analyze all aspects of how surface temperatures are estimated and interpreted and to comment generally on climate science. The NRC asked the committee to summarize current scientific information on the temperature record for the past two millennia, describe the main areas of uncertainty and how significant they are, describe the principal methodologies used and any problems with these approaches, and explain how central is the debate over the paleoclimate temperature record to the state of scientific knowledge on global climate change.The committee has prepared a report that, in my view, provides policy makers and the scientific community with a critical view of surface temperature reconstructions and how they are evolving over time, as well as a good sense of how important our understanding of the paleoclimate temperature record is within the overall state of scientific knowledge on global climate change. The report does not make policy recommendations.I thank the members of the committee, who worked intensely to produce this careful report in a short period of time and contributed much personal time, insight, and energy. ForewordCopyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11676.htmlThe NRC staff and all those who contributed papers, data, graphics, and other information, as well as the independent experts who participated in the rigorous review process, were essential participants. Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11676.html ix This committee was asked to describe and assess the state of scientific efforts to reconstruct surface temperature records for the Earth over approximately the last 2,000 years. (The full Statement of Task appears in Appendix A.) Normally, a technical issue such as surface temperature reconstructions might not generate widespread attention, but this case brings interesting lessons about how science works and how science, especially climate science, is commun...

show abstract

July–August temperature at Edinburgh between 1721 and 1975 from tree-ring density and width data

Cited by 88 publications

References 7 publications

Cycles and shifts: 1,300 years of multi-decadal temperature variability in the Gulf of Alaska

Cycles and shifts: 1,300 years of multi-decadal temperature variability in the Gulf of Alaska

The dendrochronological potential of modern yew (Taxus baccata) with special reference to yew from Hampton Court Palace, UK

Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About