Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2023-17
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2023-17
31 Mar 2023
 | 31 Mar 2023
Status: a revised version of this preprint is currently under review for the journal CP.

Did the Bronze Age deforestation of Europe affect its climate? A regional climate-model study using pollen-based land-cover reconstructions

Gustav Strandberg, Jie Chen, Ralph Fyfe, Erik Kjellström, Johan Lindström, Anneli Poska, Qiong Zhang, and Marie-José Gaillard

Abstract. This paper studies the impact of land use and land-cover change (LULCC) on the climate around 2 500 years ago (2.5 ka), a period of rapid transitions across the European landscape. One global climate model was used to force two regional climate models (RCMs). The RCMs used two land cover descriptions. The first was from a dynamical vegetation model representing potential land cover; the second a land cover description reconstructed from pollen data by statistical interpolation. The two different land covers enable us to study the impact of land cover on climate conditions. Since the difference in landscape openness between potential and reconstructed land cover is mostly due to LULCC, this can be taken as a measure of early anthropogenic effects on climate. The use of two RCMs enables us to study how sensitive climate models can be to land-cover changes.

The results show that the simulated 2.5 ka climate was warmer than the simulated pre-industrial (PI) climate. The largest differences are seen in northern Europe, where the 2.5 ka climate is 2–4 °C warmer than PI. In summer, the difference between the simulated 2.5 ka and PI climates is smaller (0–3 °C), with the smallest differences in southern Europe. Differences in seasonal precipitation are mostly within ±10 %. In parts of northern Europe, the 2.5 ka climate is up to 30 % wetter in winter than that of PI. In summer there is a tendency for the 2.5 ka climate to be drier than PI in the Mediterranean region.

The results also suggest that LULCC at 2.5 ka significantly impacted the climate in parts of Europe. Simulations including reconstructed LULCC (i.e. those using pollen-derived land cover descriptions) give up to 1 °C higher temperature in parts of northern Europe in winter and up to 1.5 °C warmer in southern Europe in summer than simulations with potential land cover. This relatively strong response implies that anthropogenic land cover changes that had occurred by the late prehistoric period may have already affected the European climate by 2.5 ka.

Gustav Strandberg et al.

Status: final response (author comments only)

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • AC1: 'Errata Appendix A', Gustav Strandberg, 11 Apr 2023
  • RC1: 'Comment on cp-2023-17', Anonymous Referee #1, 17 Apr 2023
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Gustav Strandberg, 31 May 2023
  • RC2: 'Comprehensive, valuable study, but misses important dynamical explanations and importance of the quality of simulated potential vegetation', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 May 2023
    • AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Gustav Strandberg, 31 May 2023

Gustav Strandberg et al.

Gustav Strandberg et al.

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Short summary
The impact of land use and land-cover change (LULCC) on the climate around 2 500 years ago is studied using reconstructions and models. The results suggest that LULCC significantly impacted the climate in parts of Europe. Reconstructed LULCC give up to 1.5 °C higher temperature in parts of Europe in some seasons. This relatively strong response implies that anthropogenic LULCC that had occurred by the late prehistoric period may have already affected the European climate by 2 500 years ago.