Science Daily September 18, 2018
An international team of researchers (Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Czech Republic)Â combined classic tree-ring width measurements with chemical (stable isotope) analyses of carbon and oxygen in tree-rings to reconstruct climate variables. This resulted in novel insights into the hydrological variability and atmospheric circulation changes during an abrupt climate change event. Studying the fossil pines in a French river valley the scientists proved that it was not a change in mean temperatures that was problematic, but rather the environmental stress presumably leading to the tree die off. This stress was caused by the accumulation of extreme weather conditions in single years or even decades. The study shows that periods of massive climate change can be associated with more instability in atmospheric circulation patterns, leading to greater variability on annual or decadal scales… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
The fossilized trees contain information about a drastic climate change 12,000 years before present. Credit: Cécile Miramont/ Aix-Marseille Université