We developed a new dataset of historical documents by compiling records (rogation ceremonies) from 13 cities in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula (IP). These records were transformed into quantitative continuous data to develop drought indices (DIs). We regionalized them by creating three DIs (Ebro Valle, Mediterranean, and Mountain), which cover the period from 1650 to 1899 CE. We identified extreme drought years and periods which help to understand climate variability in the IP.

We review paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic records from the northern North Atlantic to assess the nature of climatic conditions at 4.2 ka BP. There was a general decline in temperatures after ~ 5 ka BP, which led to the onset of neoglaciation. Although a few records do show a distinct anomaly around 4.2 ka BP (associated with a glacial advance), this is not widespread and we interpret it as a local manifestation of the overall climatic deterioration that characterized the late Holocene.

With the use of precipitation sensitive oak ring-width series from the Main River region (southern Germany) a 2000-year long hydroclimate reconstruction has been developed. The ring series are sensitive to the sum of rainfall from 26 February to 6 July. This region suffered from severe, long-lasting droughts in the past two millennia (e.g., AD 500/510s, 940s, 1170s, 1390s and 1160s). In the AD 550s, 1050s, 1310s and 1480s, multi-year periods with high rainfall hit the region.

In this paper, we model climate of the mid-Piacenzian warm period (mPWP; ~3 million years ago), a geological analogue for contemporary climate. Using the HadCM3 climate model, we show how changes in CO₂ and geography contributed to mPWP climate. We find mPWP warmth focussed in the high latitudes, geography-driven precipitation changes, complex changes in sea surface temperature and intensified overturning in the North Atlantic (AMOC).

Ocean sediment records document changes in Earth’s carbon cycle and ocean productivity. We present 8 Myr CaCO₃ and bulk sediment records from seven eastern Pacific scientific drill sites to identify intervals of excess CaCO₃ dissolution (high carbon storage in the oceans) and excess burial of plankton hard parts indicating high productivity. We define the regional extent of production intervals and explore the impact of the closure of the Atlantic–Pacific Panama connection on CaCO₃ burial.

We describe the presence of a carbon isotope excursion (CIE) in Paleogene lignites (Schöningen, DE) and assess paleoenvironmental changes in midlatitudinal late Paleocene–early Eocene peat mire records along the paleo-North Sea coast (Schöningen, Cobham, Vasterival). These records share major characteristics of a reduced CIE (~ -1.3 ‰) in terms of bulk organic matter, increased fire activity (pre-CIE), minor plant species changes, and drowning of near-coastal mires during the CIE.

Rainfall in North Africa is known to vary through time and is likely to change as global climate warms. Here, we provide a new level of understanding about past rainfall in North Africa by looking at a stalagmite which formed within northeastern Libya between 67 and 30 thousand years ago. We find that at times more rain falls, and the associated moisture is mostly derived from the western Mediterranean during winter storms. Sometimes, water comes from the eastern Mediterranean.

Greenland ice core records show that the climate of the last glacial period was frequently interrupted by rapid warming events, followed by cooling episodes of vastly different duration. We fit a generic waveform to the noisy ice core record in order to extract a robust climate signal and empirically study what controls the amplitude and duration of the warmings and coolings. We find that cooling transitions are more predictable than warmings and are influenced by different climate forcings.

A deep ice core was recently drilled at the South Pole to understand past variations in the Earth's climate. To understand the information contained within the ice, we present the relationship between the depth and age of the ice in the South Pole Ice Core. We found that the oldest ice in our record is from 54 302 ± 519 years ago. Our results show that, on average, 7.4 cm of snow falls at the South Pole each year.

Early colonial documentary records offer valuable climatic and historical information, but their reliability and suitability for climate reconstruction and environmental history remain uncertain. This study systematically compares drought information from records of colonial expeditions in North America 1510–1610 CE with high-resolution PDSI reconstructions of the North American Drought Atlas. It finds substantial agreement, and it suggests potential uses for such records and reconstructions.

We examine the relationships in models and reconstructions between multidecadal variability of East Asian temperature and two extratropical modes of variability. The relationship between East Asian temperature and Pacific multidecadal variability is largely driven by internal variability, whereas with Atlantic multidecadal variability it is more strongly influenced by the presence or absence of external forcing. We discuss the implications for diagnosing teleconnections from reconstructions.

The South American summer monsoon (SASM) is the most important climate system of South America. However, little is known about its long-term variability. Here we present a new SASM reconstruction from Lago Chungará in the southern Altiplano (18°S). We show important changes in SASM precipitation at timescales of centuries. Our results suggest that SASM variability was controlled not only by tropical climates but was also influenced by precipitation outside the tropics.

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.

Using the global aerosol–climate model ECHAM-HAM-SALSA, the effect of humans on European climate in the Roman Empire was quantified. Both land use and novel estimates of anthropogenic aerosol emissions were considered. We conducted simulations with fixed sea-surface temperatures to gain a first impression about the anthropogenic impact. While land use effects induced a regional warming for one of the reconstructions, aerosol emissions led to a cooling associated with aerosol–cloud interactions.