Temperature and precipitation variability in the European Alps since 1500

Abstract

High-resolution temperature and precipitation variations and their seasonal extremes since 1500 are presented for the European Alps (43.25-48.25°N and 4.25-16.25°E). The spatial resolution of the gridded reconstruction is given by 0.5°× 0.5°and monthly (seasonal) grids are reconstructed back to 1659 (1500-1658) Running correlations between the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI) and the Alpine temperature and precipitation reconstructions demonstrate the importance of this mode in explaining Alpine winter climate over the last centuries. Winter NAOI correlates positively with Alpine temperatures and negatively with precipitation. These correlations, however, are temporally unstable. We conclude that the Alps are situated in a band of varying influence of the NAO, and that other atmospheric circulation modes controled Alpine temperature and precipitation variability through the recent past.

A near‐annual palaeohydrological study based on testate amoebae from a sub‐alpine mire: surface wetness and the role of climate during the instrumental period

“…Nevertheless, Hughes and Barber (2004) described sudden, nonlinear changes of mire hydrology to climate change, leading to a reduced influence of minerotrophic water at the mire surface. Over the last 150 a, temperatures in the study area increased , whereas precipitation has not changed (Begert et al, 2005;Casty et al, 2005). Increased pollen from a drought indicator such as Andromeda is thus in agreement with an inferred temperature-related drying on the mire.…”

“…Responses may therefore be rather different from what is observed in truly raised bogs, where most other palaeoecological studies of peatlands were done. One factor is that catchments integrate precipitation over large areas, and precipitation tends to be spatially heterogeneous especially in mountains, so the point measurement of precipitation at the climate station Sils Maria (9 km away) might not reflect faithfully the precipitation regime around Mauntschas mire (Casty et al, 2005). Another factor is that run-off is affected by percolation, retention in soils and uptake by plants in the catchment, and this non-atmospheric water supply modifies the relationship between precipitation and surface wetness.…”

The global footprint of persistent extra‐tropical drought in the instrumental era

“…To the north, tree ring records from the Amazonian floodplains indicate wetter than normal conditions at these times (Schoengart et al, 2004), while Allan and D'Arrigo (1999), as an extension to the study by Quinn (1993), register a lack of El Niño related northeast Brazil droughts or 'Secas' in the 1860s (Quinn and Neal, 1992). Drought in Europe, though fairly well represented by the GHCN data, is further documented in the 1860s by Hulme and Jones (1994), by Casty et al (2005) gridded precipitation reconstructions for the European Alps during the 1860s and 1890s, and by tree-ring reconstructions from the eastern Mediterranean during the late 1850s, the 1870s and the 1890s (Touchan et al, 2005). Each of the aforementioned reconstructions conforms to the global hydroclimatic pattern of the succeeding twentieth century drought regimes.…”

A standard paleoclimatological approach to temperature reconstruction in historical climatology: an example from the Czech Republic, A.D. 1718–2007

“…Mann et al, 2000), mainly in Europe (e.g. Luterbacher et al, 2004;Casty et al, 2005;Guiot et al, 2005;Xoplaki et al, 2005), where historical climatology is highly developed in several countries (Brázdil et al, 2005a). It also has the potential to be further developed and extended in other locations (e.g.…”