Articles | Volume 14, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1135-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1135-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
09 Aug 2018
Research article |
| 09 Aug 2018
| 09 Aug 2018
Variation of extreme drought and flood in North China revealed by document-based seasonal precipitation reconstruction for the past 300 years
Jingyun Zheng
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of
Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Yingzhuo Yu
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of
Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Xuezhen Zhang
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of
Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Zhixin Hao
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of
Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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A global inventory of quantitative documentary evidence related to climate since the 15th century
The 1600 CE Huaynaputina eruption as a possible trigger for persistent cooling in the North Atlantic region
Analysis of early Japanese meteorological data and historical weather documents to reconstruct the winter climate between the 1840s and the early 1850s
Climate indices in historical climate reconstructions: a global state of the art
Could phenological records from Chinese poems of the Tang and Song dynasties (618–1279 CE) be reliable evidence of past climate changes?
Central Europe, 1531–1540 CE: The driest summer decade of the past five centuries?
“Everything is scorched by the burning sun”: missionary perspectives and experiences of 19th- and early 20th-century droughts in semi-arid central Namibia
Patterns in data of extreme droughts/floods and harvest grades derived from historical documents in eastern China during 801–1910
The extreme drought of 1842 in Europe as described by both documentary data and instrumental measurements
The climate in south-east Moravia, Czech Republic, 1803–1830, based on daily weather records kept by the Reverend Šimon Hausner
The climate of Granada (southern Spain) during the first third of the 18th century (1706–1730) according to documentary sources
Extracting weather information from a plantation document
300 years of hydrological records and societal responses to droughts and floods on the Pacific coast of Central America
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Snow and weather climatic control on snow avalanche occurrence fluctuations over 50 yr in the French Alps
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This comprehensive inventory of quantitative documentary evidence related to climate extending back to 1400 CE promotes the first ever global perspective on documentary climate records. It lays the foundation for incorporating documentary evidence from archives of societies into global-scale climate reconstructions, complementing (early) instrumental measurements and natural climate proxies. Documentary records are particularly relevant in seasons and regions poorly covered by natural proxies.
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This study examines whether the 1600 Huaynaputina volcano eruption triggered persistent cooling in the North Atlantic. It compares previous paleoclimate simulations with new climate reconstructions from natural proxies and historical documents and finds that the reconstructions are consistent with, but do not support, an eruption trigger for persistent cooling. The study also analyzes societal impacts of climatic change in ca. 1600 and the use of historical observations in model–data comparison.
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David J. Nash, George C. D. Adamson, Linden Ashcroft, Martin Bauch, Chantal Camenisch, Dagomar Degroot, Joelle Gergis, Adrian Jusopović, Thomas Labbé, Kuan-Hui Elaine Lin, Sharon D. Nicholson, Qing Pei, María del Rosario Prieto, Ursula Rack, Facundo Rojas, and Sam White
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Rudolf Brázdil, Gaston R. Demarée, Andrea Kiss, Petr Dobrovolný, Kateřina Chromá, Miroslav Trnka, Lukáš Dolák, Ladislava Řezníčková, Pavel Zahradníček, Danuta Limanowka, and Sylvie Jourdain
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Rudolf Brázdil, Hubert Valášek, Kateřina Chromá, Lukáš Dolák, Ladislava Řezníčková, Monika Bělínová, Adam Valík, and Pavel Zahradníček
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The paper analyses a weather diary of the Reverend Šimon Hausner from Buchlovice in south-east Moravia, Czech Republic, in the 1803–1831 period. From daily weather records, series of numbers of precipitation days, cloudiness, strong winds, fogs, and thunderstorms were created. These records were further used to interpret weighted temperature and precipitation indices. Records of Šimon Hausner represent an important contribution to the study of climate fluctuations on the central European scale.
Fernando S. Rodrigo
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The climate of Granada (southern Spain) during the first third of the 18th century is reconstructed. Results suggest that climatic conditions were similar to those of the first decades of the 20th century, when the global warming signal was of less importance than today. In addition, the paper presents the instrumental data taken in Granada in 1729, probably the first instrumental meteorological data recorded in Spain. Some extreme events, such as the cold wave of winter 1729, are studied.
Gregory Burris, Jane Washburn, Omar Lasheen, Sophia Dorribo, James B. Elsner, and Ronald E. Doel
Clim. Past, 15, 477–492, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-477-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-477-2019, 2019
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Historical documents are full of untapped data on past climate conditions. Our paper sets out a method for extracting this information into a database that is easily utilized by climate scientists. We apply this method to a document from Shirley Plantation covering the years 1816–1842. We then provide two case studies to demonstrate the validity and utility of the new method and database.
Alvaro Guevara-Murua, Caroline A. Williams, Erica J. Hendy, and Pablo Imbach
Clim. Past, 14, 175–191, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-175-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-175-2018, 2018
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This study reconstructs a new semi-quantitative rainfall index for the Pacific coast of Central America using documentary sources for the period 1640 to 1945. In addition, we explore the various mechanisms and processes that may explain inter-annual and inter-decadal rainfall variability over the Pacific coast of Central America.
Feng Shi, Sen Zhao, Zhengtang Guo, Hugues Goosse, and Qiuzhen Yin
Clim. Past, 13, 1919–1938, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1919-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-13-1919-2017, 2017
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We reconstructed the multi-proxy precipitation field for China over the past 500 years, which includes three leading modes (a monopole, a dipole, and a triple) of precipitation variability. The dipole mode may be controlled by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation variability. Such reconstruction is an essential source of information to document the climate variability over decadal to centennial timescales and can be used to assess the ability of climate models to simulate past climate change.
Rudolf Brázdil, Ladislava Řezníčková, Hubert Valášek, Lukáš Dolák, and Oldřich Kotyza
Clim. Past, 12, 1361–1374, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1361-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1361-2016, 2016
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The paper deals with climatic and human impacts of the strong Tambora (Indonesia) volcanic eruption in April 1815 over the Czech Lands territory based on analysis of documentary data and instrumental records. While climatic effects were related particularly to summers 1815 and 1816 (1816 is known as "a Year Without Summer"), quite important were societal impacts represented after bad harvest by steep increase in prices and shortages of food.
C. Camenisch
Clim. Past, 11, 1049–1066, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1049-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1049-2015, 2015
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This paper applies the methods of historical climatology to present a climate reconstruction for the area of the Burgundian Low Countries during the 15th century. The results are based on documentary evidence. Approximately 3000 written records derived from about 100 different sources were examined and converted into seasonal seven-degree indices of temperature and precipitation.
A. Guevara-Murua, C. A. Williams, E. J. Hendy, A. C. Rust, and K. V. Cashman
Clim. Past, 10, 1707–1722, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-10-1707-2014, 2014
A. J. Berland, S. E. Metcalfe, and G. H. Endfield
Clim. Past, 9, 1331–1343, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1331-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1331-2013, 2013
O. Wetter and C. Pfister
Clim. Past, 9, 41–56, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-41-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-41-2013, 2013
H. Castebrunet, N. Eckert, and G. Giraud
Clim. Past, 8, 855–875, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-855-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-855-2012, 2012
F. S. Rodrigo, J. J. Gómez-Navarro, and J. P. Montávez Gómez
Clim. Past, 8, 117–133, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-117-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-117-2012, 2012
O. Wetter and C. Pfister
Clim. Past, 7, 1307–1326, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-1307-2011, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-7-1307-2011, 2011
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Short summary
We investigated the decadal variations of extreme droughts and floods in North China using a 17-site seasonal precipitation reconstruction from a unique historical archive. Then, the link of extreme droughts and floods with ENSO episodes and large volcanic eruptions was discussed. This study helps us understand whether the recent extreme events observed by instruments exceed the natural variability at a regional scale, which may be useful for adaptation to extremes and disasters in the future.
We investigated the decadal variations of extreme droughts and floods in North China using a...
