Articles | Volume 15, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1205-2019
© Author(s) 2019. 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-15-1205-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Jul 2019
Research article |
| 02 Jul 2019
| 02 Jul 2019
The climate in south-east Moravia, Czech Republic, 1803–1830, based on daily weather records kept by the Reverend Šimon Hausner
Rudolf Brázdil
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,
Czech Republic
Hubert Valášek
Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Moravian Land Archives, Brno, Czech Republic
deceased
Kateřina Chromá
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,
Czech Republic
Lukáš Dolák
Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,
Czech Republic
Ladislava Řezníčková
Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,
Czech Republic
Monika Bělínová
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,
Czech Republic
Adam Valík
Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
Pavel Zahradníček
Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,
Czech Republic
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Brno, Czech Republic
Related authors
Christian Pfister, Stefan Brönnimann, Andres Altwegg, Rudolf Brázdil, Laurent Litzenburger, Daniele Lorusso, and Thomas Pliemon
Clim. Past, 20, 1387–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1387-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1387-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This bottle of Riesling from the traditional Bassermann Jordan winery in Deidesheim (Germany) is a relic of the premium wine harvested in 1811. It was named “Comet Wine” after the bright comet that year. The study shows that wine quality can be used to infer summer weather conditions over the past 600 years. After rainy summers with cold winds, wines turned sour, while long periods of high pressure led to excellent qualities. Since 1990, only good wines have been produced due to rapid warming.
Jan Řehoř, Rudolf Brázdil, Oldřich Rakovec, Martin Hanel, Milan Fischer, Rohini Kumar, Jan Balek, Markéta Poděbradská, Vojtěch Moravec, Luis Samaniego, and Miroslav Trnka
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1434, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1434, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a robust method for identification and classification of global land drought events (GLDEs) based on soil moisture. Two models were used to calculate soil moisture and delimit soil drought over global land from 1980–2022, which was clustered into 775/630 GLDEs. Using four spatiotemporal and three motion-related characteristics, we categorized GLDEs into seven severity and seven dynamic categories. The frequency of GLDEs has generally increased in recent decades.
Rudolf Brázdil, Dominika Faturová, Monika Šulc Michalková, Jan Řehoř, Martin Caletka, and Pavel Zahradníček
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1467, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1467, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Flash floods belong to natural hazards that can be enhanced in frequency, intensity and impacts during the recent climate change. The paper present a complex analysis of spatiotemporal variability and human impacts (including material damage and fatalities) of flash floods in the Czech Republic for the 2001–2023 period. The analysis shows generally not any statistically significant trends in the characteristics analysed.
Rudolf Brázdil, Jan Lhoták, Kateřina Chromá, and Petr Dobrovolný
Clim. Past, 20, 1017–1037, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1017-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1017-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The newly developed series of wheat, rye, barley, and oats prices from Sušice (southwestern Bohemia) for the period 1725–1824 CE is used to demonstrate effects of weather, climate, socio-economic, and societal factors on their fluctuations, with particular attention paid to years with extremely high prices. Cold spring temperatures and wet conditions from winter to summer were reflected in very high grain prices.
Rudolf Brázdil, Kateřina Chromá, and Pavel Zahradníček
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1437–1457, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1437-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1437-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The official mortality data in the Czech Republic in 1919–2022 are used to show long-term fluctuations in the number of fatalities caused by excessive natural cold and heat, lightning, natural disasters, and falls on ice/snow, as well as the sex and age of the deceased, based on certain meteorological, historical, and socioeconomic factors that strongly influence changes in the number and structure of such fatalities. Knowledge obtained is usable in risk management for the preservation of lives.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Christian Pfister, Katrin Kleemann, Kateřina Chromá, Péter Szabó, and Piotr Olinski
Clim. Past, 19, 1863–1890, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1863-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1863-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Thirty Years' War (from 1618 to 1648 CE), an armed military conflict in Europe, brought extensive devastation to Europe. The paper analyses annual and seasonal temperature, precipitation, and drought patterns, as well as severe weather extremes, based particularly on documentary data, during this event in central Europe to demonstrate their broad impacts on human society and human responses in coincidence with weather and climate during this period of hardship.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Zahradník, Péter Szabó, Kateřina Chromá, Petr Dobrovolný, Lukáš Dolák, Miroslav Trnka, Jan Řehoř, and Silvie Suchánková
Clim. Past, 18, 2155–2180, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2155-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2155-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Bark beetle outbreaks are important disturbances to Norway spruce forests. Their meteorological and climatological triggers are analysed for the main oubreaks over the territory of the Czech Republic based on newly created series of such outbreaks, covering the 1781–2021 CE period. The paper demonstrates the shift from windstorms as the main meteorological triggers of past outbreaks to effects of high temperatures and droughts together with windstorms in past decades.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Jiří Mikšovský, Petr Pišoft, Miroslav Trnka, Martin Možný, and Jan Balek
Clim. Past, 18, 935–959, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-935-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-935-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The paper deals with 520-year series (1501–2020 CE) of temperature, precipitation, and four drought indices reconstructed from documentary evidence and instrumental observations for the Czech Lands. Basic features of their fluctuations, long-term trends, and periodicities as well as attribution to changes in external forcings and climate variability modes are analysed. Representativeness of Czech reconstructions at European scale is evaluated. The paper shows extreme character of past decades.
Gerard van der Schrier, Richard P. Allan, Albert Ossó, Pedro M. Sousa, Hans Van de Vyver, Bert Van Schaeybroeck, Roberto Coscarelli, Angela A. Pasqua, Olga Petrucci, Mary Curley, Mirosław Mietus, Janusz Filipiak, Petr Štěpánek, Pavel Zahradníček, Rudolf Brázdil, Ladislava Řezníčková, Else J. M. van den Besselaar, Ricardo Trigo, and Enric Aguilar
Clim. Past, 17, 2201–2221, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2201-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2201-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The 1921 drought was the most severe drought to hit Europe since the start of the 20th century. Here the climatological description of the drought is coupled to an overview of its impacts, sourced from newspapers, and an analysis of its drivers. The area from Ireland to the Ukraine was affected but hardest hit was the triangle between Brussels, Paris and Lyon. The drought impacts lingered on until well into autumn and winter, affecting water supply and agriculture and livestock farming.
Rudolf Brázdil, Kateřina Chromá, Lukáš Dolák, Jan Řehoř, Ladislava Řezníčková, Pavel Zahradníček, and Petr Dobrovolný
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 1355–1382, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-1355-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-1355-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analysis of fatalities attributable to weather conditions in the Czech Republic during the 2000–2019 period based on our own database created from newspaper reports, on the database of the Czech Statistical Office, and on the database of the police of the Czech Republic as well as on their comparison. Despite some uncertainties, generally declining trends in the number of fatalities appear for the majority of weather variables. The structure of fatalities is described in detail.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Martin Bauch, Chantal Camenisch, Andrea Kiss, Oldřich Kotyza, Piotr Oliński, and Ladislava Řezníčková
Clim. Past, 16, 2125–2151, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2125-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2125-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Previous studies related to historical droughts in the Czech Lands showed that the summers of 1531–1540 could represent the driest summer decade of the past 500 years. To confirm this hypothesis, documentary data from central Europe were collected and presented for individual summers and complemented by maps of precipitation and drought distribution to document corresponding weather patterns and their various impacts. The main droughts occurred in 1532, 1534–1536, 1538, and particularly in 1540.
Olga Petrucci, Luigi Aceto, Cinzia Bianchi, Victoria Bigot, Rudolf Brázdil, Moshe Inbar, Abdullah Kahraman, Özgenur Kılıç, Vassiliki Kotroni, Maria Carmen Llasat, Montserrat Llasat-Botija, Michele Mercuri, Katerina Papagiannaki, Susana Pereira, Jan Řehoř, Joan Rossello Geli, Paola Salvati, Freddy Vinet, and José Luis Zêzere
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-154, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-154, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
EUFF 2020 database (EUropean Flood Fatalities-FF) contains 2483 flood fatalities (1980–2018) occurred in 8 countries. Gender, age, activity of FF and dynamics of accidents were obtained from documentary sources. 64.8 % of FF were killed by floods killing less than 10 people. Males were more numerous than females due higher proportion of them driving and working outdoors. FF 30–64 years old died traveling to home/work, driving vehicles dragged by water. Elderly people were trapped indoor by flood.
Rudolf Brázdil, Gaston R. Demarée, Andrea Kiss, Petr Dobrovolný, Kateřina Chromá, Miroslav Trnka, Lukáš Dolák, Ladislava Řezníčková, Pavel Zahradníček, Danuta Limanowka, and Sylvie Jourdain
Clim. Past, 15, 1861–1884, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1861-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1861-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents analysis of the 1842 drought in Europe (except the Mediterranean) based on documentary data and instrumental records. First the meteorological background of this drought is shown (seasonal distribution of precipitation, annual variation of temperature, precipitation and drought indices, synoptic reasons) and effects of drought on water management, agriculture, and in society are described in detail with particular attention to human responses.
Jiří Mikšovský, Rudolf Brázdil, Miroslav Trnka, and Petr Pišoft
Clim. Past, 15, 827–847, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-827-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-827-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
To reveal sources of variability imprinted in central European drought records, regression and wavelet analysis were applied to 5 centuries of reconstructed data characterizing Czech climate. Mid- to long-term changes in temperature in the North Atlantic and North Pacific were identified as one of the potential sources of drought variations; transient colder and wetter episodes were linked to the effects of large volcanic eruptions.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Miroslav Trnka, Ladislava Řezníčková, Lukáš Dolák, and Oldřich Kotyza
Clim. Past, 15, 1–24, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The paper analyses extreme droughts of the pre-instrumental period (1501–1803) over the territory of the recent Czech Republic. In total, 16 droughts were selected for spring, summer and autumn each and 14 droughts for summer half-year (Apr–Sep). They are characterized by very low values of drought indices, high temperatures, low precipitation and by the influence of high-pressure situations. Selected extreme droughts are described in more detail. Effect of droughts on grain prices are studied.
Rudolf Brázdil, Andrea Kiss, Jürg Luterbacher, David J. Nash, and Ladislava Řezníčková
Clim. Past, 14, 1915–1960, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1915-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1915-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents a worldwide state of the art of droughts fluctuations based on documentary data. It gives an overview of achievements related to different kinds of documentary evidence with their examples and an overview of papers presenting long-term drought chronologies over the individual continents, analysis of the most outstanding drought events, the influence of external forcing and large-scale climate drivers, and human impacts and responses. It recommends future research directions.
Petr Dobrovolný, Rudolf Brázdil, Miroslav Trnka, Michal Rybníček, Tomáš Kolář, Martin Možný, Tomáš Kyncl, and Ulf Büntgen
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2018-160, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2018-160, 2018
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Careful selection of available moisture-sensitive proxies resulted in a new reconstruction of short-term drought over the Czech Republic during the last 500 years. It consists of a synthesis of four different proxies and its high reconstruction skill demonstrates the clear advantage of a multi-proxy approach. The new chronology of Z-index shows that central Europe experienced the most severe 30-year late spring–early summer period of drought for the last 500 years.
Chantal Camenisch, Kathrin M. Keller, Melanie Salvisberg, Benjamin Amann, Martin Bauch, Sandro Blumer, Rudolf Brázdil, Stefan Brönnimann, Ulf Büntgen, Bruce M. S. Campbell, Laura Fernández-Donado, Dominik Fleitmann, Rüdiger Glaser, Fidel González-Rouco, Martin Grosjean, Richard C. Hoffmann, Heli Huhtamaa, Fortunat Joos, Andrea Kiss, Oldřich Kotyza, Flavio Lehner, Jürg Luterbacher, Nicolas Maughan, Raphael Neukom, Theresa Novy, Kathleen Pribyl, Christoph C. Raible, Dirk Riemann, Maximilian Schuh, Philip Slavin, Johannes P. Werner, and Oliver Wetter
Clim. Past, 12, 2107–2126, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2107-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2107-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Throughout the last millennium, several cold periods occurred which affected humanity. Here, we investigate an exceptionally cold decade during the 15th century. The cold conditions challenged the food production and led to increasing food prices and a famine in parts of Europe. In contrast to periods such as the “Year Without Summer” after the eruption of Tambora, these extreme climatic conditions seem to have occurred by chance and in relation to the internal variability of the climate system.
Martin Možný, Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, and Miroslav Trnka
Clim. Past, 12, 1421–1434, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1421-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1421-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
April–August temperature reconstruction for the Czech Lands based on grape-harvest dates in the 1499–2012 period constitutes a further important contribution to the better understanding of long-term spatiotemporal temperature variability in central Europe and includes the very long overlap period (1801–2012) used for calibration and verification, the consistent dominance of Pinot varieties through time, and the stability of vineyard management throughout the period reconstructed.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
P. Dobrovolný, M. Rybníček, T. Kolář, R. Brázdil, M. Trnka, and U. Büntgen
Clim. Past, 11, 1453–1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1453-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1453-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
A new data set of 3194 oak (Quercus spp.) ring width samples collected across the Czech Republic and covering the past 1250 years was analysed. The temporal distribution of negative and positive TRW extremes occurring is regular with no indication of clustering. Negative TRW extremes coincided with above-average March-May and June-August temperature means and below-average precipitation totals. Positive extremes coincided with higher summer precipitation, while temperatures were mostly normal.
G. Benito, R. Brázdil, J. Herget, and M. J. Machado
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 3517–3539, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3517-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3517-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Historical hydrology combines documentary data with hydrological methods to lengthen flow records to the past centuries. We describe the methodological evolution of historical hydrology under the influence of developments in hydraulics and statistics. Analysis of 45 case studies in Europe show that present flood magnitudes are not unusual in the context of the past, whereas flood frequency has decreased, although some rivers show a reactivation of rare floods over the last two decades.
Y. Brugnara, R. Auchmann, S. Brönnimann, R. J. Allan, I. Auer, M. Barriendos, H. Bergström, J. Bhend, R. Brázdil, G. P. Compo, R. C. Cornes, F. Dominguez-Castro, A. F. V. van Engelen, J. Filipiak, J. Holopainen, S. Jourdain, M. Kunz, J. Luterbacher, M. Maugeri, L. Mercalli, A. Moberg, C. J. Mock, G. Pichard, L. Řezníčková, G. van der Schrier, V. Slonosky, Z. Ustrnul, M. A. Valente, A. Wypych, and X. Yin
Clim. Past, 11, 1027–1047, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1027-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1027-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
A data set of instrumental pressure and temperature observations for the early instrumental period (before ca. 1850) is described. This is the result of a digitisation effort involving the period immediately after the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, combined with the collection of already available sub-daily time series. The highest data availability is therefore for the years 1815 to 1817. An analysis of pressure variability and of case studies in Europe is performed for that period.
R. Brázdil, K. Chromá, L. Řezníčková, H. Valášek, L. Dolák, Z. Stachoň, E. Soukalová, and P. Dobrovolný
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 3873–3889, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-3873-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-3873-2014, 2014
J. Hall, B. Arheimer, M. Borga, R. Brázdil, P. Claps, A. Kiss, T. R. Kjeldsen, J. Kriaučiūnienė, Z. W. Kundzewicz, M. Lang, M. C. Llasat, N. Macdonald, N. McIntyre, L. Mediero, B. Merz, R. Merz, P. Molnar, A. Montanari, C. Neuhold, J. Parajka, R. A. P. Perdigão, L. Plavcová, M. Rogger, J. L. Salinas, E. Sauquet, C. Schär, J. Szolgay, A. Viglione, and G. Blöschl
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 2735–2772, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2735-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2735-2014, 2014
R. Brázdil, P. Dobrovolný, M. Trnka, O. Kotyza, L. Řezníčková, H. Valášek, P. Zahradníček, and P. Štěpánek
Clim. Past, 9, 1985–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1985-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1985-2013, 2013
Christian Pfister, Stefan Brönnimann, Andres Altwegg, Rudolf Brázdil, Laurent Litzenburger, Daniele Lorusso, and Thomas Pliemon
Clim. Past, 20, 1387–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1387-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1387-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This bottle of Riesling from the traditional Bassermann Jordan winery in Deidesheim (Germany) is a relic of the premium wine harvested in 1811. It was named “Comet Wine” after the bright comet that year. The study shows that wine quality can be used to infer summer weather conditions over the past 600 years. After rainy summers with cold winds, wines turned sour, while long periods of high pressure led to excellent qualities. Since 1990, only good wines have been produced due to rapid warming.
Jan Řehoř, Rudolf Brázdil, Oldřich Rakovec, Martin Hanel, Milan Fischer, Rohini Kumar, Jan Balek, Markéta Poděbradská, Vojtěch Moravec, Luis Samaniego, and Miroslav Trnka
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1434, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1434, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a robust method for identification and classification of global land drought events (GLDEs) based on soil moisture. Two models were used to calculate soil moisture and delimit soil drought over global land from 1980–2022, which was clustered into 775/630 GLDEs. Using four spatiotemporal and three motion-related characteristics, we categorized GLDEs into seven severity and seven dynamic categories. The frequency of GLDEs has generally increased in recent decades.
Rudolf Brázdil, Dominika Faturová, Monika Šulc Michalková, Jan Řehoř, Martin Caletka, and Pavel Zahradníček
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1467, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1467, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Flash floods belong to natural hazards that can be enhanced in frequency, intensity and impacts during the recent climate change. The paper present a complex analysis of spatiotemporal variability and human impacts (including material damage and fatalities) of flash floods in the Czech Republic for the 2001–2023 period. The analysis shows generally not any statistically significant trends in the characteristics analysed.
Rudolf Brázdil, Jan Lhoták, Kateřina Chromá, and Petr Dobrovolný
Clim. Past, 20, 1017–1037, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1017-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-20-1017-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The newly developed series of wheat, rye, barley, and oats prices from Sušice (southwestern Bohemia) for the period 1725–1824 CE is used to demonstrate effects of weather, climate, socio-economic, and societal factors on their fluctuations, with particular attention paid to years with extremely high prices. Cold spring temperatures and wet conditions from winter to summer were reflected in very high grain prices.
Rudolf Brázdil, Kateřina Chromá, and Pavel Zahradníček
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1437–1457, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1437-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1437-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The official mortality data in the Czech Republic in 1919–2022 are used to show long-term fluctuations in the number of fatalities caused by excessive natural cold and heat, lightning, natural disasters, and falls on ice/snow, as well as the sex and age of the deceased, based on certain meteorological, historical, and socioeconomic factors that strongly influence changes in the number and structure of such fatalities. Knowledge obtained is usable in risk management for the preservation of lives.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Christian Pfister, Katrin Kleemann, Kateřina Chromá, Péter Szabó, and Piotr Olinski
Clim. Past, 19, 1863–1890, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1863-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1863-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Thirty Years' War (from 1618 to 1648 CE), an armed military conflict in Europe, brought extensive devastation to Europe. The paper analyses annual and seasonal temperature, precipitation, and drought patterns, as well as severe weather extremes, based particularly on documentary data, during this event in central Europe to demonstrate their broad impacts on human society and human responses in coincidence with weather and climate during this period of hardship.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Zahradník, Péter Szabó, Kateřina Chromá, Petr Dobrovolný, Lukáš Dolák, Miroslav Trnka, Jan Řehoř, and Silvie Suchánková
Clim. Past, 18, 2155–2180, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2155-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-2155-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Bark beetle outbreaks are important disturbances to Norway spruce forests. Their meteorological and climatological triggers are analysed for the main oubreaks over the territory of the Czech Republic based on newly created series of such outbreaks, covering the 1781–2021 CE period. The paper demonstrates the shift from windstorms as the main meteorological triggers of past outbreaks to effects of high temperatures and droughts together with windstorms in past decades.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Jiří Mikšovský, Petr Pišoft, Miroslav Trnka, Martin Možný, and Jan Balek
Clim. Past, 18, 935–959, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-935-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-935-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The paper deals with 520-year series (1501–2020 CE) of temperature, precipitation, and four drought indices reconstructed from documentary evidence and instrumental observations for the Czech Lands. Basic features of their fluctuations, long-term trends, and periodicities as well as attribution to changes in external forcings and climate variability modes are analysed. Representativeness of Czech reconstructions at European scale is evaluated. The paper shows extreme character of past decades.
Gerard van der Schrier, Richard P. Allan, Albert Ossó, Pedro M. Sousa, Hans Van de Vyver, Bert Van Schaeybroeck, Roberto Coscarelli, Angela A. Pasqua, Olga Petrucci, Mary Curley, Mirosław Mietus, Janusz Filipiak, Petr Štěpánek, Pavel Zahradníček, Rudolf Brázdil, Ladislava Řezníčková, Else J. M. van den Besselaar, Ricardo Trigo, and Enric Aguilar
Clim. Past, 17, 2201–2221, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2201-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-2201-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The 1921 drought was the most severe drought to hit Europe since the start of the 20th century. Here the climatological description of the drought is coupled to an overview of its impacts, sourced from newspapers, and an analysis of its drivers. The area from Ireland to the Ukraine was affected but hardest hit was the triangle between Brussels, Paris and Lyon. The drought impacts lingered on until well into autumn and winter, affecting water supply and agriculture and livestock farming.
Michal Bíl, Pavel Raška, Lukáš Dolák, and Jan Kubeček
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 2581–2596, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2581-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-2581-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The online landslide database CHILDA (Czech Historical Landslide Database) summarises information about landslides which occurred in the area of Czechia (the Czech Republic). The database is freely accessible via the https://childa.cz/ website. It includes 699 records (spanning the period of 1132–1989). Overall, 55 % of all recorded landslide events occurred only within 15 years of the extreme landslide incidence.
Rudolf Brázdil, Kateřina Chromá, Lukáš Dolák, Jan Řehoř, Ladislava Řezníčková, Pavel Zahradníček, and Petr Dobrovolný
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 1355–1382, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-1355-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-1355-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analysis of fatalities attributable to weather conditions in the Czech Republic during the 2000–2019 period based on our own database created from newspaper reports, on the database of the Czech Statistical Office, and on the database of the police of the Czech Republic as well as on their comparison. Despite some uncertainties, generally declining trends in the number of fatalities appear for the majority of weather variables. The structure of fatalities is described in detail.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Martin Bauch, Chantal Camenisch, Andrea Kiss, Oldřich Kotyza, Piotr Oliński, and Ladislava Řezníčková
Clim. Past, 16, 2125–2151, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2125-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2125-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Previous studies related to historical droughts in the Czech Lands showed that the summers of 1531–1540 could represent the driest summer decade of the past 500 years. To confirm this hypothesis, documentary data from central Europe were collected and presented for individual summers and complemented by maps of precipitation and drought distribution to document corresponding weather patterns and their various impacts. The main droughts occurred in 1532, 1534–1536, 1538, and particularly in 1540.
Olga Petrucci, Luigi Aceto, Cinzia Bianchi, Victoria Bigot, Rudolf Brázdil, Moshe Inbar, Abdullah Kahraman, Özgenur Kılıç, Vassiliki Kotroni, Maria Carmen Llasat, Montserrat Llasat-Botija, Michele Mercuri, Katerina Papagiannaki, Susana Pereira, Jan Řehoř, Joan Rossello Geli, Paola Salvati, Freddy Vinet, and José Luis Zêzere
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-154, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2020-154, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
EUFF 2020 database (EUropean Flood Fatalities-FF) contains 2483 flood fatalities (1980–2018) occurred in 8 countries. Gender, age, activity of FF and dynamics of accidents were obtained from documentary sources. 64.8 % of FF were killed by floods killing less than 10 people. Males were more numerous than females due higher proportion of them driving and working outdoors. FF 30–64 years old died traveling to home/work, driving vehicles dragged by water. Elderly people were trapped indoor by flood.
Rudolf Brázdil, Gaston R. Demarée, Andrea Kiss, Petr Dobrovolný, Kateřina Chromá, Miroslav Trnka, Lukáš Dolák, Ladislava Řezníčková, Pavel Zahradníček, Danuta Limanowka, and Sylvie Jourdain
Clim. Past, 15, 1861–1884, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1861-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1861-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents analysis of the 1842 drought in Europe (except the Mediterranean) based on documentary data and instrumental records. First the meteorological background of this drought is shown (seasonal distribution of precipitation, annual variation of temperature, precipitation and drought indices, synoptic reasons) and effects of drought on water management, agriculture, and in society are described in detail with particular attention to human responses.
Jiří Mikšovský, Rudolf Brázdil, Miroslav Trnka, and Petr Pišoft
Clim. Past, 15, 827–847, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-827-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-827-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
To reveal sources of variability imprinted in central European drought records, regression and wavelet analysis were applied to 5 centuries of reconstructed data characterizing Czech climate. Mid- to long-term changes in temperature in the North Atlantic and North Pacific were identified as one of the potential sources of drought variations; transient colder and wetter episodes were linked to the effects of large volcanic eruptions.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Miroslav Trnka, Ladislava Řezníčková, Lukáš Dolák, and Oldřich Kotyza
Clim. Past, 15, 1–24, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The paper analyses extreme droughts of the pre-instrumental period (1501–1803) over the territory of the recent Czech Republic. In total, 16 droughts were selected for spring, summer and autumn each and 14 droughts for summer half-year (Apr–Sep). They are characterized by very low values of drought indices, high temperatures, low precipitation and by the influence of high-pressure situations. Selected extreme droughts are described in more detail. Effect of droughts on grain prices are studied.
Rudolf Brázdil, Andrea Kiss, Jürg Luterbacher, David J. Nash, and Ladislava Řezníčková
Clim. Past, 14, 1915–1960, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1915-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1915-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents a worldwide state of the art of droughts fluctuations based on documentary data. It gives an overview of achievements related to different kinds of documentary evidence with their examples and an overview of papers presenting long-term drought chronologies over the individual continents, analysis of the most outstanding drought events, the influence of external forcing and large-scale climate drivers, and human impacts and responses. It recommends future research directions.
Petr Dobrovolný, Rudolf Brázdil, Miroslav Trnka, Michal Rybníček, Tomáš Kolář, Martin Možný, Tomáš Kyncl, and Ulf Büntgen
Clim. Past Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2018-160, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2018-160, 2018
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Careful selection of available moisture-sensitive proxies resulted in a new reconstruction of short-term drought over the Czech Republic during the last 500 years. It consists of a synthesis of four different proxies and its high reconstruction skill demonstrates the clear advantage of a multi-proxy approach. The new chronology of Z-index shows that central Europe experienced the most severe 30-year late spring–early summer period of drought for the last 500 years.
Chantal Camenisch, Kathrin M. Keller, Melanie Salvisberg, Benjamin Amann, Martin Bauch, Sandro Blumer, Rudolf Brázdil, Stefan Brönnimann, Ulf Büntgen, Bruce M. S. Campbell, Laura Fernández-Donado, Dominik Fleitmann, Rüdiger Glaser, Fidel González-Rouco, Martin Grosjean, Richard C. Hoffmann, Heli Huhtamaa, Fortunat Joos, Andrea Kiss, Oldřich Kotyza, Flavio Lehner, Jürg Luterbacher, Nicolas Maughan, Raphael Neukom, Theresa Novy, Kathleen Pribyl, Christoph C. Raible, Dirk Riemann, Maximilian Schuh, Philip Slavin, Johannes P. Werner, and Oliver Wetter
Clim. Past, 12, 2107–2126, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2107-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-2107-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Throughout the last millennium, several cold periods occurred which affected humanity. Here, we investigate an exceptionally cold decade during the 15th century. The cold conditions challenged the food production and led to increasing food prices and a famine in parts of Europe. In contrast to periods such as the “Year Without Summer” after the eruption of Tambora, these extreme climatic conditions seem to have occurred by chance and in relation to the internal variability of the climate system.
Martin Možný, Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, and Miroslav Trnka
Clim. Past, 12, 1421–1434, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1421-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-1421-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
April–August temperature reconstruction for the Czech Lands based on grape-harvest dates in the 1499–2012 period constitutes a further important contribution to the better understanding of long-term spatiotemporal temperature variability in central Europe and includes the very long overlap period (1801–2012) used for calibration and verification, the consistent dominance of Pinot varieties through time, and the stability of vineyard management throughout the period reconstructed.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
P. Dobrovolný, M. Rybníček, T. Kolář, R. Brázdil, M. Trnka, and U. Büntgen
Clim. Past, 11, 1453–1466, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1453-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1453-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
A new data set of 3194 oak (Quercus spp.) ring width samples collected across the Czech Republic and covering the past 1250 years was analysed. The temporal distribution of negative and positive TRW extremes occurring is regular with no indication of clustering. Negative TRW extremes coincided with above-average March-May and June-August temperature means and below-average precipitation totals. Positive extremes coincided with higher summer precipitation, while temperatures were mostly normal.
G. Benito, R. Brázdil, J. Herget, and M. J. Machado
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 3517–3539, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3517-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3517-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Historical hydrology combines documentary data with hydrological methods to lengthen flow records to the past centuries. We describe the methodological evolution of historical hydrology under the influence of developments in hydraulics and statistics. Analysis of 45 case studies in Europe show that present flood magnitudes are not unusual in the context of the past, whereas flood frequency has decreased, although some rivers show a reactivation of rare floods over the last two decades.
Y. Brugnara, R. Auchmann, S. Brönnimann, R. J. Allan, I. Auer, M. Barriendos, H. Bergström, J. Bhend, R. Brázdil, G. P. Compo, R. C. Cornes, F. Dominguez-Castro, A. F. V. van Engelen, J. Filipiak, J. Holopainen, S. Jourdain, M. Kunz, J. Luterbacher, M. Maugeri, L. Mercalli, A. Moberg, C. J. Mock, G. Pichard, L. Řezníčková, G. van der Schrier, V. Slonosky, Z. Ustrnul, M. A. Valente, A. Wypych, and X. Yin
Clim. Past, 11, 1027–1047, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1027-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-11-1027-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
A data set of instrumental pressure and temperature observations for the early instrumental period (before ca. 1850) is described. This is the result of a digitisation effort involving the period immediately after the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815, combined with the collection of already available sub-daily time series. The highest data availability is therefore for the years 1815 to 1817. An analysis of pressure variability and of case studies in Europe is performed for that period.
R. Brázdil, K. Chromá, L. Řezníčková, H. Valášek, L. Dolák, Z. Stachoň, E. Soukalová, and P. Dobrovolný
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 3873–3889, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-3873-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-3873-2014, 2014
J. Hall, B. Arheimer, M. Borga, R. Brázdil, P. Claps, A. Kiss, T. R. Kjeldsen, J. Kriaučiūnienė, Z. W. Kundzewicz, M. Lang, M. C. Llasat, N. Macdonald, N. McIntyre, L. Mediero, B. Merz, R. Merz, P. Molnar, A. Montanari, C. Neuhold, J. Parajka, R. A. P. Perdigão, L. Plavcová, M. Rogger, J. L. Salinas, E. Sauquet, C. Schär, J. Szolgay, A. Viglione, and G. Blöschl
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 2735–2772, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2735-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2735-2014, 2014
R. Brázdil, P. Dobrovolný, M. Trnka, O. Kotyza, L. Řezníčková, H. Valášek, P. Zahradníček, and P. Štěpánek
Clim. Past, 9, 1985–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1985-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-1985-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Proxy Use-Development-Validation | Archive: Historical Records | Timescale: Decadal-Seasonal
Weather and climate and their human impacts and responses during the Thirty Years' War in central Europe
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 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
Variation of extreme drought and flood in North China revealed by document-based seasonal precipitation reconstruction for the past 300 years
300 years of hydrological records and societal responses to droughts and floods on the Pacific coast of Central America
Multi-proxy reconstructions of May–September precipitation field in China over the past 500 years
Climatic effects and impacts of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in the Czech Lands
Endless cold: a seasonal reconstruction of temperature and precipitation in the Burgundian Low Countries during the 15th century based on documentary evidence
Observations of a stratospheric aerosol veil from a tropical volcanic eruption in December 1808: is this the Unknown ∼1809 eruption?
Documentary-derived chronologies of rainfall variability in Antigua, Lesser Antilles, 1770–1890
An underestimated record breaking event – why summer 1540 was likely warmer than 2003
Snow and weather climatic control on snow avalanche occurrence fluctuations over 50 yr in the French Alps
Climate variability in Andalusia (southern Spain) during the period 1701–1850 based on documentary sources: evaluation and comparison with climate model simulations
Spring-summer temperatures reconstructed for northern Switzerland and southwestern Germany from winter rye harvest dates, 1454–1970
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Christian Pfister, Katrin Kleemann, Kateřina Chromá, Péter Szabó, and Piotr Olinski
Clim. Past, 19, 1863–1890, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1863-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-19-1863-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Thirty Years' War (from 1618 to 1648 CE), an armed military conflict in Europe, brought extensive devastation to Europe. The paper analyses annual and seasonal temperature, precipitation, and drought patterns, as well as severe weather extremes, based particularly on documentary data, during this event in central Europe to demonstrate their broad impacts on human society and human responses in coincidence with weather and climate during this period of hardship.
Angela-Maria Burgdorf
Clim. Past, 18, 1407–1428, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1407-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1407-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Sam White, Eduardo Moreno-Chamarro, Davide Zanchettin, Heli Huhtamaa, Dagomar Degroot, Markus Stoffel, and Christophe Corona
Clim. Past, 18, 739–757, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-739-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-739-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Junpei Hirano, Takehiko Mikami, and Masumi Zaiki
Clim. Past, 18, 327–339, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-327-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-327-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The East Asian winter monsoon causes orographic snowfall over the windward side of the Japanese islands (facing the Sea of Japan and the northwesterly winter monsoon flow) and negative temperature anomalies around Japan. In this study, we reconstruct the outbreak of the winter monsoon around Japan for the winter from the 1840s to the early 1850s by using daily weather information recorded in old Japanese diaries and early daily instrumental temperature data.
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
Clim. Past, 17, 1273–1314, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1273-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1273-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Qualitative evidence contained within historical sources provides an important record of climate variability for periods prior to the onset of systematic meteorological data collection. Before such evidence can be used for climate reconstructions, it needs to be converted to a quantitative format. A common approach is the generation of ordinal-scale climate indices. This review, written by members of the PAGES CRIAS working group, provides a global synthesis of the use of the index approach.
Yachen Liu, Xiuqi Fang, Junhu Dai, Huanjiong Wang, and Zexing Tao
Clim. Past, 17, 929–950, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-929-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-929-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
There are controversies about whether poetry can be used as one of the evidence sources for past climate changes. We tried to discuss the reliability and validity of phenological records from poems of the Tang and Song dynasties (618–1279 CE) by analyzing their certainties and uncertainties. A standardized processing method for phenological records from poems is introduced. We hope that this study can provide a reference for the extraction and application of phenological records from poems.
Rudolf Brázdil, Petr Dobrovolný, Martin Bauch, Chantal Camenisch, Andrea Kiss, Oldřich Kotyza, Piotr Oliński, and Ladislava Řezníčková
Clim. Past, 16, 2125–2151, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2125-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-2125-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Previous studies related to historical droughts in the Czech Lands showed that the summers of 1531–1540 could represent the driest summer decade of the past 500 years. To confirm this hypothesis, documentary data from central Europe were collected and presented for individual summers and complemented by maps of precipitation and drought distribution to document corresponding weather patterns and their various impacts. The main droughts occurred in 1532, 1534–1536, 1538, and particularly in 1540.
Stefan Grab and Tizian Zumthurm
Clim. Past, 16, 679–697, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-679-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-679-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Here we describe the unique nature of droughts over semi-arid central Namibia (southern Africa) between 1850 and 1920. We establish temporal shifts in the influence and impact that historical droughts had on society and the environment during this period. The paper demonstrates and argues that human experience and the associated reporting of drought events depend strongly on social, environmental, spatial, and societal developmental situations and perspectives.
Zhixin Hao, Maowei Wu, Jingyun Zheng, Jiewei Chen, Xuezhen Zhang, and Shiwei Luo
Clim. Past, 16, 101–116, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-101-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-101-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Using reconstructed extreme drought/flood chronologies and grain harvest series derived from historical documents, it is found that the frequency of reporting of extreme droughts in any subregion of eastern China was significantly associated with lower reconstructed harvests during 801–1910. The association was weak during the warm epoch of 920–1300 but strong during the cold epoch of 1310–1880, which indicates that a warm climate might weaken the impact of extreme drought on poor harvests.
Rudolf Brázdil, Gaston R. Demarée, Andrea Kiss, Petr Dobrovolný, Kateřina Chromá, Miroslav Trnka, Lukáš Dolák, Ladislava Řezníčková, Pavel Zahradníček, Danuta Limanowka, and Sylvie Jourdain
Clim. Past, 15, 1861–1884, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1861-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1861-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents analysis of the 1842 drought in Europe (except the Mediterranean) based on documentary data and instrumental records. First the meteorological background of this drought is shown (seasonal distribution of precipitation, annual variation of temperature, precipitation and drought indices, synoptic reasons) and effects of drought on water management, agriculture, and in society are described in detail with particular attention to human responses.
Fernando S. Rodrigo
Clim. Past, 15, 647–659, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-647-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-647-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Jingyun Zheng, Yingzhuo Yu, Xuezhen Zhang, and Zhixin Hao
Clim. Past, 14, 1135–1145, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1135-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1135-2018, 2018
Short summary
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.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Cited articles
Adamson, G. C. D.: Private diaries as information sources in climate
research, WIREs Clim. Change, 6, 599–611, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.365, 2015.
Adamson, G. C. D. and Nash, D. J.: Documentary reconstruction of monsoon
rainfall variability over western India, 1781–1860, Clim. Dynam., 42,
749–769, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-013-1825-6, 2014.
Bokwa, A., Limanówka, D., and Wibig, J.: Pre-instrumental weather
observations in Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries, in: History and
Climate. Memories of the Future?, edited by: Jones, P. D.,
Ogilvie, A. E. J., Davies, T. D., and Briffa, K. R., Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New
York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow, 9–27, 2001.
Brázdil, R. and Kiss, A.: Daily weather observations at Košice,
Slovakia, in the period 1677–1681, Meteorol. Čas., 4, 3–14, 2001.
Brázdil, R. and Kotyza, O.: Daily meteorological observations of Charles
Senior of Žerotín in the years 1588–1591, Scripta Fac. Sci. Nat.
Univ. Masarykianae Brunensis (Geographia), 25, 7–39, 1995.
Brázdil, R. and Kotyza, O.: History of Weather and Climate in the Czech
Lands II. The Earliest Daily Observations of the Weather in the Czech Lands,
Masaryk University, Brno, 1996.
Brázdil, R. and Valášek, H.: Popis klimatu Moravy od
Kryštofa Passyho z roku 1797 (The description of the climate of Moravia
by Kryštof Passy from the year 1797), Geografie, 106, 234–250, 2001.
Brázdil, R., Valášek, H., and Macková, J.:
Meteorologická pozorování P. Tadeáše Štiky
v Počaplech z let 1788–1789 (Meteorological observations of parson
Tadeáš Štika at Počaply in 1788–1789), Meteorol. Zpr., 55,
151–157, 2002a.
Brázdil, R., Valášek, H., Sviták, Z., and Macková, J.:
History of Weather and Climate in the Czech Lands V. Instrumental
Meteorological Measurements in Moravia up to the End of the Eighteenth
Century, Masaryk University, Brno, 2002b.
Brázdil, R., Valášek, H., and Macková, J.: Climate in the
Czech Lands during the 1780s in light of the daily weather records of parson
Karel Bernard Hein of Hodonice (south-western Moravia): Comparison of
documentary and instrumental data, Climatic Change, 60, 297–327, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026045902062, 2003.
Brázdil, R., Pfister, C., Wanner, H., von Storch, H., and Luterbacher,
J.: Historical climatology in Europe – the state of the art, Climatic Change,
70, 363–430, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-5924-1, 2005a.
Brázdil, R., Valášek, H., and Macková, J.:
Meteorologická pozorování v Brně v první polovině
19. století. Historie počasí a hydrometeorologických
extrémů (Meteorological Observations in Brno in the First Half of
the Nineteenth Century. History of Weather and Hydrometeorological
Extremes), Archiv města Brna, Brno, 2005b.
Brázdil, R., Řezníčková, L., and Valášek, H.:
Early instrumental meteorological observations in the Czech Lands I:
Ferdinand Knittelmayer, Brno, 1799–1812, Meteorol. Čas., 9, 59–71,
2006.
Brázdil, R., Řezníčková, L., and Valášek, H.:
Early instrumental meteorological observations in the Czech Lands II:
Andreas Sterly, Jihlava, 1816–1840 (1844), Meteorol. Čas., 10, 3–12,
2007a.
Brázdil, R., Řezníčková, L., and Valášek, H.:
Počasí v Čechách v letech 1805–1806: konfrontace
vizuálních a přístrojových pozorování
(Weather in Bohemia in 1805–1806: comparison of visual and instrumental
observations), Meteorol. Zpr., 60, 187–193, 2007b.
Brázdil, R., Černušák, T., and Řezníčková,
L.: Weather information in the diaries of the Premonstratensian Abbey at
Hradisko, in the Czech Republic, 1693–1783, Weather, 63, 201–207, https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.264, 2008a.
Brázdil, R., Kiss, A., Luterbacher, J., and Valášek, H.: Weather
patterns in eastern Slovakia 1717–1730, based on records from Breslau
meteorological network, Int. J. Climatol., 28, 1639–1651, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1667, 2008b.
Brázdil, R., Dobrovolný, P., Luterbacher, J., Moberg, A., Pfister,
C., Wheeler, D., and Zorita, E.: European climate of the past 500 years: new
challenges for historical climatology, Climatic Change, 101, 7–40,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9783-z, 2010.
Brázdil, R., Černušák, T., and Řezníčková,
L.: The Weather and Climate in the Region of Olomouc, Czech Republic, Based
on Premonstratensian Diaries Kept by the Hradisko Monastery and Svatý
Kopeček Priory, 1693–1783, Masaryk University, Brno, 2011.
Brázdil, R., Bělínová, M., Dobrovolný, P.,
Mikšovský, J., Pišoft, P., Řezníčková, L.,
Štěpánek, P., Valášek, H., and Zahradníček, P.:
Temperature and Precipitation Fluctuations in the Czech Lands During the
Instrumental Period, Masaryk University, Brno, 2012a.
Brázdil, R., Chromá, K., Valášek, H., and Dolák, L.: Hydrometeorological extremes derived from taxation records for south-eastern Moravia, Czech Republic, 1751–1900 AD, Clim. Past, 8, 467–481, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-8-467-2012, 2012b.
Brázdil, R., Kotyza, O., Dobrovolný, P.,
Řezníčková, L., and Valášek, H.: Climate of the
Sixteenth Century in the Czech Lands, Masaryk University, Brno, 2013a.
Brázdil, R., Řezníčková, L., and Valášek, H.:
Meteorologická pozorování Alexandra Zawadzkého v Brně
v letech 1861–1867 (The meteorological observations made by Alexander
Zawadzki in Brno, 1861–1867), Geografie, 118, 334–355, 2013b.
Brázdil, R., Valášek, H., Kašičková, L., and
Chromá, K.: Meteorologická pozorování Josefa Lukotky ve
Vsetíně v letech 1903–1923 (Meteorological observations made by
Josef Lukotka in the town of Vsetín through the years 1903–1923),
Meteorol. Zpr., 67, 120–128, 2014.
Chernavskaya, M.: The climate of the Russian plain according to the diary of
Peter the Great, and the weather records of Czar Aleksey's court, in:
Climatic Trends and
Anomalies in Europe 1675–1715. High-resolution Spatio-temporal
Reconstructions from Direct Meteorological Observations and Proxy Data.
Methods and Results, edited by: Frenzel, B., Pfister, C., and Gläser, B., Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, Jena, New York,
73–81, 1994.
Domínguez-Castro, F., García-Herrera, R., and Vaquero, J. M.: An
early weather diary from Iberia (Lisbon, 1631–1632), Weather, 70, 20–24,
https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.2319, 2015.
Druckenbrod, D. L., Mann, M. E., Stahle, D. W., Cleaveland, M. K., Therrell,
M. D., and Shugart, H. H.: Late-eighteenth-century precipitation
reconstructions from James Madison's Montpelier plantation, B. Am.
Meteorol. Soc., 84, 57–71, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-84-1-57, 2003.
Fernández-Fernández, M. I., Gallego, M. C., Domínguez-Castro,
F., Trigo, R. M., and Vaquero, J. M.: The climate in Zafra from 1750 to
1840: temperature indices from documentary sources, Climatic Change, 141,
671–684, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-1910-7, 2017.
Filipiak, J., Przybylak, R., and Oliński, P.: The longest one-man
weather chronicle (1721–1786) by Gottfried Reyger for Gdańsk, Poland as
a source for improved understanding of past climate variability, Int. J.
Climatol., 39, 828–842, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5845, 2019.
Glaser, R., Militzer, S., and Walsh, R.: Weather and climate at Madras,
India, in the years 1732–1737 based upon an analysis of the weather diary
of the German missionary Geisler, Würzburger Geographische Arbeiten, 80,
45–86, 1991.
Hirano, J. and Mikami, T.: Reconstruction of winter climate variations
during the 19th century in Japan, Int. J. Climatol., 28, 1423–1434, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1632, 2008.
Hrdý, M., Kořínek, V., and Žižlavský, B.: Moje
Buchlovice: 200 let městečka: 20.5.1805–20.5.2005 (My Buchlovice:
200 Years of a Small Town: 20 May 1805–20 May 2005), Obec Buchlovice,
Buchlovice, 2005.
Lawrence, E. N.: The earliest known journal of the weather, Weather, 27,
494–501, 1972.
Lee, D. S. and MacKenzie, A. R.: Trans-hemispheric effects of large volcanic
eruptions as recorded by an early 19th century diary, Int. J. Climatol., 30,
2217–2228, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.2034, 2010.
Lenke, W.: Das Klima Ende des 16. und Anfang des 17. Jahrhunderts nach
Beobachtungen
von Tycho Brahe auf Hven, Leonhard III Treuttwein in Fürstenfeld und
David Fabricius in
Ostfriesland, Ber. Deutsch. Wetterd. 110, Offenbach a. M., 1968.
Limanówka, D.: Rekonstrukcja warunków klimatycznych Krakowa w
pierwszej połowie XVI wieku (Reconstruction of Climatic Patterns in Cracow
in the First Half of the 16th Century), Materiały Badawcze, Seria:
Meteorologia – 33, Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej, Warszawa,
2001.
Long, C.: The oldest European weather diary?, Weather, 29, 233–237, 1974.
Lorrey, A. M. and Chappell, P. R.: The “dirty weather” diaries of Reverend Richard Davis: insights about early colonial-era meteorology and climate variability for northern New Zealand, 1839–1851, Clim. Past, 12, 553–573, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-553-2016, 2016.
Luterbacher, J. and Pfister, C.: The year without a summer, Nat. Geosci., 8,
246–248, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2404, 2015.
Metzger, A. and Tabeaud, M.: Reconstruction of the winter weather in east
Friesland at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
(1594–1612), Climatic Change, 141, 331–345, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-1903-6,
2017.
Mikami, T.: Climatic variations in Japan reconstructed from historical
documents, Weather, 63, 190–193, https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.281, 2008.
Munzar, J.: Floods in Central Europe after the exceedingly severe winter
season 1829/1830, Moravian Geogr. Rep., 8, 46–57, 2000.
Munzar, J. and Kakos, V.: Zima 1829/30 – nejtužší ve
střední Evropě od počátku měření teploty
vzduchu (The winter of 1829/1830 – the most severe in central Europe since
air temperature measurements began), Meteorol. Zpr., 53, 103–108, 2000.
Nowosad, W., Przybylak, R., Marciniak, K., and Syta, K.: Diariusz Jan
Antoniego Chrapowickiego jako źródlo do badań klimatu
Rzezcypospolitej w drugiej połowie XVII wieku (The diary of Jan Antoni
Chrapowicki as a source for researchers on climate of Poland in the second
half of the 17th century), Klio, 9, 21–60, 2007.
Pejml, K.: 200 let meteorologické observatoře v pražském
Klementinu (Two Hundred Years of the Prague-Klementinum Meteorological
Observatory), Hydrometeorologický ústav, Praha, 1975.
Pfister, C.: Monthly temperature and precipitation in central Europe
1525–1979: quantifying documentary evidence on weather and its effects, in:
Climate Since A.D. 1500, edited by: Bradley, R. S. and Jones, P. D., Routledge,
London, New York, 118–142, 1992.
Pfister, C., Brázdil, R., Glaser, R., Bokwa, A., Holawe, F., Limanowka,
D., Kotyza, O., Munzar, J., Rácz, L., Strömmer, E., and
Schwarz-Zanetti, G.: Daily weather observations in sixteenth-century Europe,
Climatic Change, 43, 111–150, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005505113244, 1999.
Przybylak, R. and Marciniak, K.: Climate changes in the central and
north-eastern parts of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth from 1656 to 1685,
in:
The Polish Climate in the European Context: An Historical Overview, edited by: Przybylak, R., Majorowicz, J., Brázdil, R., and Kejna, M., Springer
Science + Business Media B. V., Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, New York,
423–443, 2010.
Raicich, F.: Some features of Trieste climate from an eighteenth century
diary (1732–1749), Climatic Change, 86, 211–226, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-007-9357-x, 2008.
Sanderson, M. G.: Daily weather in Dublin 1716–1734: the diary of Isaac
Butler, Weather, 73, 179–182, https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.3029, 2018.
White, S., Pfister, C., and Mauelshagen, F. (Eds.): The Palgrave Handbook of
Climate History, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018.
WMO: WMO Guidelines on the Calculation of Climate Normals, WMO-No. 1203,
World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2017.
Woodworth, P. M.: The meteorological data of William Hutchinson and a
Liverpool air pressure time series spanning 1768–1999, Int. J. Climatol.,
26, 1713–1726, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1335, 2006.
Zhang, X.-Z., Ge, Q.-S., Fang, X.-Q., Zheng, J.-Y., and Fei, J.:
Precipitation variations in Beijing during 1860–1897 AD revealed by daily
weather records from the Weng Tong-He Diary, Int. J. Climatol., 33, 568–576, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3448, 2013.
Žižlavský, B.: Písmák a kněz Šimon Hausner (The
chronicler and reverend Šimon Hausner), Malovaný kraj, 34, 14–15,
1998.
Zwitter, Ž.: Vremenska in klimatska zgodovina v koledarjih in
podložniških dnevnikih ljubljanskega škofa Tomaža Hrena
(1597–1630) (History of weather and climate in calendars and manorial
minutes of Tomaž Hren, Bishop of Ljubljana (1597–1630)), Zgodovinski
Čas., 67, 306–389, 2013.
Short summary
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.
The paper analyses a weather diary of the Reverend Šimon Hausner from Buchlovice in south-east...
