The Climate of the Last Millennium
The Climate of the Last Millennium R.S. Bradley Climate System Research Center, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, United States of America K.R. Briffa Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom J.E. Cole Department of Geosciences, University Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States of America M.K. Hughes Lab. of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, 105 W. Stadium, Bldg. 58, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States of America T.J. Osborn Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom 6.1 Introduction records with annual to decadal resolution (or even We are living in unusual times. Twentieth century higher temporal resolution in the case of climate was dominated by near universal warming documentary records, which may include daily with almost all parts of the globe experiencing tem- observations, e.g. Brázdil et al. 1999; Pfister et al. peratures at the end of the century that were signifi- 1999a,b; van Engelen et al. 2001). Other cantly higher than when it began (Figure 6.1) information may be obtained from sources that are (Parker et al. 1994; Jones et al. 1999). However the not continuous in time, and that have less rigorous instrumental data provide only a limited temporal chronological control. Such sources include perspective on present climate. How unusual was geomorphological evidence (e.g. from former lake the last century when placed in the longer-term shorelines and glacier moraines) and macrofossils context of climate in the centuries and millennia that indicate the range of plant or animal species in leading up to the 20th century? Such a perspective the recent past.
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