A new study analyzes the link between temperature and moisture in dendrochronological records, finding that a tree’s age plays a noticeable role in how sensitive a record is to each variable. Analyzing Abeis spectabilis trees from the treeline ecotone of central Nepal, the author found that spring growth in mature trees was most sensitive to differences in precipitation and that juveniles were more sensitive to variations in temperature. Read the full paper sub免费网络加速器. 

S.T. Hussain and F. Reide’s new article in WIREs Climate Change outlines the potential benefits of using archaeological evidence to investigate what the authors call paleoenvironmental humanities. Archaeological records contain lengthy chronologies of human-environmental interactions and can provide a wealth of information about how humans have adapted to changing or difficult conditions in the past. They point in particular to the paleolithic era, comprising thousands of years and dramatic fluctuations in the climate systems. The authors also argue that these narratives are useful for critiquing narratives of climate determination or irrelevance in the present. Read the full article here.

A new study of a volcanic crater lake in Vietnam’s central highlands analyzes sediment cores from the Biển Hồ maar. These geochemical and sedimentological analyses show increases in sedimentation rates during the time of US military activities in the 1960s-70s, a decrease in sedimentation correlating with reforestation projects around the rim during the 1990s, and a drop in nutrients when a concrete sill was installed to limit water exchange ten years ago. Set alongside other data, this record will also provide calibration for producing longer records from the maar. Read the full study here.

A new climate record from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau suggests that the hydrologic record of the area is linked to changes in the Indian Monsoon and Westerlies. Drawing from lacustrine sediment cores in the source area of the Yellow River, the 1500-year record reflects the major global climate phases of the period covered by the study and correlates with other paleoclimate records from the region. These hydrological and climate variables are also studied in conjunction with changes to the chemical composition of the water and the organic matter contained within it. Read the full study here .

A new study from a consortium of European researchers analyzes a pollen record from Cyprus alongside the historical record, finding a correlation between climate events like recurrent cold periods and changing precipitation and destabilizing events like outbreaks of disease and social unrest. Periods of ecological stress were correlated with the abandonment of large cities and the growth of small villages, suggesting social fission. The authors also suggest that the climate instability reflected in the pollen record may have contributed to the collapse of a number of larger polities. Read more sub网络加速器下载.

New research appraises the use of the Swiss volkskalender as a source for popular perceptions of climate history. Analyzing the mass-produced Appenzeller Kalender between 1722-1865, Isabelle Vieli shows how events ranging from thunderstorms to unseasonal snowfall and comets were represented in the years afterward. Read it in full here. 

Two new edited volumes on environment stress, climate, and societal response came out in late 2019, included new research by a number of collaborators in this network:

Martin BauchSchenk, Gerrit J. Schenk, eds., The Crisis of the 14th Century. Teleconnections between Environmental and Societal Change?, Berlin, 2019 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung. Beihefte, 13). All articles open access here: http://perspectivia.net/receive/pnet_mods_00002862  including Bruce Campbell’s lecture during the 2016 conference that initiated this volume.

Andrea Kiss and Kathleen Pribyl, eds. The Dance of Death in Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Environmental Stress, Mortality and Social Response. Abingdon-on-Thames 2019 (Environmental Humanities) http://www.crcpress.com/The-Dance-of-Death-in-Late-Medieval-and-Renaissance-Europe-Environmental/Kiss-Pribyl/p/book/9781138590366