Old World megadroughts and pluvials during the Common Era

• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500561
• Publication Date: 2015-11-07T04:09:27Z
• Authors: Edward R. Cook; Richard Seager; Yochanan Kushnir; Keith R. Briffa; Ulf Büntgen; David Frank; Paul J. Krusic; Willy Tegel; Gerard van der Sc...; Laia Andreu-Hayles; Mike Baillie; Claudia Baittinger; Niels Bleicher; Niels Bonde; David Brown; Marco Carrer; Richard Cooper; Katarina Čufar; Christoph Dittmar; Jan Esper; Carol Griggs; Björn Gunnarson; Björn Günther; Emilia Gutierrez; Kristof Haneca; Samuli Helama; Franz Herzig; Karl-Uwe Heussner; Jutta Hofmann; Pavel Janda; Raymond Kontic; Nesibe Köse; Tomáš Kyncl; Tom Levanič; Hans Linderholm; Sturt Manning; Thomas M. Melvin; Daniel Miles; Burkhard Neuwirth; Kurt Nicolussi; Paola Nola; Momchil Panayotov; Ionel Popa; Andreas Rothe; Kristina Seftigen; Andrea Seim; Helene Svarva; Miroslav Svoboda; Terje Thun; Mauri Timonen; Ramzi Touchan; Volodymyr Trotsiuk; Valerie Trouet; Felix Walder; Tomasz Ważny; Rob Wilson; Christian Zang
• Keywords: Mediterranean Basin; Dryness; Forcing (mathematics)

Climate model projections suggest widespread drying in the Mediterranean Basin and wetting Fennoscandia coming decades largely as a consequence of greenhouse gas forcing climate. To place these other "Old World" climate into historical perspective based on more complete estimates natural hydroclimatic variability, we have developed World Drought Atlas" (OWDA), set year-to-year maps tree-ring reconstructed summer wetness dryness over Europe during Common Era. The OWDA matches accounts severe drought with spatial completeness not previously available. In addition, megadroughts north-central 11th mid-15th centuries reinforce evidence from North America Asia that droughts were severe, extensive, prolonged Northern Hemisphere land areas before 20th century, an inadequate understanding their causes. provides new data to determine causes Old attribute past variability forced and/or internal variability.