Last nine-thousand years of temperature variability in Northern Europe

• DOI: 10.5194/cp-5-523-2009
• Publication Date: 2010-04-29T14:41:41Z
• Authors: H. Seppä; A. E. Bjune; R. J. Telford; H. J. B. Birks; S. Veski
• Keywords: Proxy (statistics); Forcing (mathematics); Ice core; Paleoclimatology; Centennial; Holocene climatic optimum

Abstract. The threat of future global warming has generated a major interest in quantifying past climate variability on centennial and millennial time-scales. However, palaeoclimatological records are often noisy arguments about only possible if they based reproducible features several reliably dated datasets. Here we focus the last 9000 years, explore results 36 Holocene pollen-based July mean annual temperature reconstructions from Northern Europe by stacking them to create summary curves, compare with high-resolution, chironomid-based record other independent palaeoclimate records. stacked show that "Holocene Thermal Maximum" region dates 8000 4800 cal yr BP "8.2 event" "Little Ice Age" at 500–100 clearest cold episodes during Holocene. In addition, more detailed analysis 5000 years pinpoints centennial-scale anomalies 3800–3000 BP, long, warmer period around 2000 marked since mid 19th century. colder (warmer) associated increased (decreased) humidity over northern European mainland, consistent modern high correlation between (warm) humid (dry) modes summer weather region. A comparison key proxy reflecting main forcing factors does not support hypothesis solar is cause late-Holocene changes. We suggest reconstructed typical their occurrence may be related oceanic atmospheric circulation North Atlantic – North-European