Historical Climatology Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

2025, Journal of Hydrology

A long time series of damaging flood records in Northern Portugal for 1871-2011, gathered from a large number of documentary sources, is analyzed. The relationships between damaging floods (DFs) and relevant circulation weather types (CWTs) are also assessed. The DFs database has 1861 records and CWTs are identified using the 20th century reanalysis dataset v2. A coefficient of effectiveness (CE) is calculated for each weather type in order to assess DF-CWT relationships. Furthermore, conditions in the 10 days preceding a DF outbreak, type of flood and season were taken into account in CE calculations. The DF occurrences were responsible for 186 killed people, 59 injured, 29 missing, 1873 displaced and 15924 homeless people. The monthly frequencies each CWT show that anticyclonic (A) and easterly wind (E) types are prevalent in winter, whereas R tends to prevail in the summer half of the year. However, the results show that the cyclonic (C) type has a positive frequency with DF occurrence (i.e. anomalously frequent), both on the DF day and on the nine previous days. The C type is commonly associated with southwesterly flow and unsettled weather conditions over Portugal, which are favorable to rain-generating mechanisms. The results also highlight some seasonal variation: in autumn, winter and spring, the C type is largely related to DFs, while the A and E types acquire higher preponderance in the summer. In effect, the latter two CWTs may trigger thunderstorms and heavy precipitation episodes in the Douro River catchment in summer.

2025, THESE UNIQUE: Géographie physique, Spécialité : Climatologie

The socio-economic activities of the West African populations are closely linked to the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall and its derived parameters. They are highly variable and have considerable impacts on agricultural production and related activities mainly in rural areas. To better manage these risks, the production and dissemination of tailored scientific knowledge is crucial for decision making in the framework of adaptation and resilience of farmers. This thesis focuses on the analysis of the spatio-temporal evolution of the derived rainfall parameters characterizing the agricultural season, their predictability and the socio-economic benefits of climate information in the Sahelo-Sudanian belt of West Africa. To achieve this, rainfall data from 98 meteorological stations obtained at the AGRHYMET Regional Center, precipitation data from North American Multi-Model Ensemble and survey data collected in eight administrative units in southwestern Niger were used were used. The approach is based on the generation of tailored indices to assess their variability and to characterize the identified zones. Then Statistical-Dynamic Model trough CPT were used to determine their predictability and, finally a to conduct a survey to evaluate the socio-economic benefits of climate services. The use of these data and statistical analysis tools, demonstrate low capacity of the models to predict onset dates, length of the season and dry spells, while, revealing the good ability of the models to forecast the cessation date of the season, seasonal cumulative rainfall and the number of rain days. In addition, climate services allow communities to increase their production by 64 bundles of millet (i.e., 10 bags of 100 kg) over an average area of 3 hectares. They also reduce the risk of climate-related disasters (floods, droughts, etc.), the loss of animals, agricultural products, human lives and socio-economics infrastructures. These results support the hypotheses stating that the derived rainfall parameters are variable in space and time, some have predictability and the use of adapted climatic information benefit to populations allowing them to reduce their vulnerability.

2025, Investigaciones Geográficas

La información proxy-data procedente de documentación manuscrita conservada en archivos históricos españoles es especialmente abundante y detallada en lo referente al régimen de precipitaciones. Diferentes métodos de tratamiento estadístico pueden permitir la disponibilidad de estos datos en análisis climáticos. Uno de ellos es la calibración de proxy-data con registros meteorológicos instrumentales de precipitación. Este artículo presenta un ensayo a resolución anual para el caso de Barcelona.

2025, Árboles y bosques de Cuba admirados por el almirante Cristóbal Colón

EL presente ensayo aborda las referencias a árboles y bosques cubanos realizadas por Cristóbal Colón en los documentos relativos a su primer viaje trasatlántico. Este libro presenta la argumentación que sostiene la identificación de uno... more

2025, Climatic Change

Single-to multiple-year drought episodes posed significant challenges for agrarian communities across southern Africa during the 19th century, and hence are widely recorded in a variety of historical documents. However, the ways in which droughts are articulated, and the focus of individual accounts, varies considerably between different authors and historical source types. This study draws on a range of documentary source typesspecifically newspapers, letters, reports and diariesto explore the varied narratives associated with three protracted droughts (those of 1861-63, 1876-79 and 1895-97) that affected large areas of the subcontinent. The analysis spans four case study areaspresent day KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), Lesotho, Malawi, and the southern Kalahari (Botswana and South Africa)which were investigated as part of different interdisciplinary projects. We explore issues common to all case study areas, including (i) how specific drought events are framed, and (ii) what is and is not reported about individual droughts across different source types. We conclude that different source types in the subcontinent may be more or less appropriate for addressing the specific objectives of historical climatology, particularly in relation to historical drought. Sources such as newspapers and weather diaries are rich in qualitative and quantitative observations suitable for the reconstruction of temporal and spatial patterns of weather and climate, as well as climaterelated natural disasters. In contrast, letters, reports and personal journals, especially those written by missionaries, provide additional qualitative narratives through which to investigate the vulnerability of past societies and economies to climate variations, and to explore past discourses and social representations of climate. While studies of this kind have been published for European and American source types, this is the first systematic exploration of documentary sources for the historical climatology of Africa. It should therefore provide a guide for climate history studies elsewhere in the continent, or other regions where written records are absent prior to the arrival of European colonists.

2025

MAURO BERNABEI (*) -CLAUDIO POLLINI (*) NOTA DENDROCRONOLOGICA SUI TIGLI DI S. LUGANO (BOLZANO, ITALIA) ( 1 ) Ad oggi, pochi lavori di dendrocronologia sono stati realizzati sul tiglio. Questioni legate alla particolare conformazione anatomica del legno e alle caratteristiche dell'accrescimento radiale comportano talvolta la formazione di anelli non chiaramente individuabili. Inoltre, la presenza sporadica dei tigli nei boschi italiani non facilita la costruzione di cronologie campione di riferimento. In questo lavoro, le classiche tecniche proprie dell'anatomia del legno e della dendrocronologia sono state impiegate per far luce sulla reale durata della vita di due piante di tiglio di notevole interesse storico locale. È stata così realizzata una cronologia di 245 anni che si sincronizza bene con le cronologie campione del larice e del pino cembro della zona. Tale cronologia ha contribuito alla ricostruzione di un piccolo pezzo della storia della valle.

2025

Large volcanic eruptions can have a substantial impact on climate across the globe. These climatic disturbances can, in turn, have severe human consequences – often very remote from the original eruption. To understand how such eruptions... more

2025, Journal of Archaeology & Art/Arkeoloji ve Sanat, 178

In this article, we argue that the transition to the sedentary life is a life practice developed by women. We will also try to reval how the woman establashed this new life carried out a socilization practice with her neighbors in... more

2025, npj Climate and atmospheric science

The demise of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) and the rise of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) marked an epochal moment in Chinese and world history. Attention has been given to the North China droughts during 1627–1643 that destabilized the Ming Dynasty. However, there is little attention paid to how climate influenced the rise of a minority Manchu state in Northeast China and its conquest of the Ming. Here, we find that contrasting climate conditions between North and Northeast China persisted over a six-decade period (1581–1644), which diversely affected economic, societal, and political changes at the regional level. Five successive megadroughts ravaged North China, while relatively wet and mild climate conditions prevailed in the Manchu homeland of Northeast China. Furthermore, in the early decades of Manchu rule in North China (1645–1680), increased precipitation facilitated the Qing Dynasty’s consolidation. Reconstructions and climate model simulations revealed that these unusual climatic patterns were influenced by the centennial variation of clustering El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and were amplified by the Little Ice Age cooling. These findings shed light on how long-term contrasting future climate changes could lead to divergent socioeconomic responses, potentially increasing the risk of conflict between neighboring states.

2025, Trame interdisciplinari e concetti fondanti- Come rendere la storia insegnata più utile grazie all’incrocio con Tecnologia e Scienze

2025

In una recente intervista, il pianista Stefano Bollani si è espresso con queste parole sulla crisi ambientale e climatica del nostro pianeta: «Penso che siamo vicini alla fine del mondo. Il modo in cui la affronteremo dipende da come la dipingiamo e interpretiamo, se come una catastrofe o come un cambiamento. Io sono per la seconda ipotesi. Per un bruco, l'apocalisse è diventare farfalla. Ci troviamo a questo punto: dobbiamo decidere se ideare un mondo nuovo e metterlo in pratica, unendo le nostre forze creative e inventive, oppure se rassegnarci alla fine. Del resto, il pianeta sopravviverà comunque, con o senza di noi. Forse, senza di noi che lo infestiamo, starà anche meglio. Se però vogliamo rimanerci, dobbiamo deciderlo con chiarezza e agire di conseguenza. È doveroso fare un passo in avanti e fare sì che i matti e gli eretici vengano fuori e offrano anche loro idee per un nuovo mondo. Questo è il momento delle idee nuove, non della tutela di quelle vecchie […] 1 ». Sono tanti gli apocalittici che percepiscono la crisi ambientale in modo più o meno originale. Si accorgono che stiamo declinando su una strada senza ritorno, a meno che non si provveda ad affrontarla seriamente con scelte tempestive e condivise a livello globale. Se anche l'inesperto percepisce il pericolo, senza poterne interpretare gli elementi di contorno, accostiamoci a chi ha studiato i problemi della crisi climatica e del degrado dell'ambiente mettendo in gioco la competenza storica. Sono studiosi di formazione interdisciplinare, con il sussidio di scienziati, chimici, biologi, geologi e altri specialisti, i quali stanno ricostruendo il passato del nostro pianeta e dell'umanità che lo ha colonizzato. Offrono interpretazioni della situazione attuale, effetto di scelte umane, condizionate dagli aspetti morfologici, geologici e climatici dell'ambiente, che a loro volta le civiltà hanno contribuito a modellare per rispondere ai propri bisogni. Il primo fra gli storici ad interessarsi all'ambiente fu Marc Bloch nei lontani anni '30 del Novecento, seguito poi da molti altri, dal nostro Emilio Sereni a Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie a Wolfgang Behringer e Robert Delort, che è anche biologo e a Brian M. Fagan, che è anche antropologo. È inevitabile mettere in discussione la visione di potenza del genere umano, che, nella sua pervicace tensione a sottomettere la natura ai propri bisogni, sta generando squilibri ambientali tali da mettere in pericolo sé stesso. Infatti se l'ambiente, come naturalmente accade, si evolverà alla ricerca di un nuovo equilibrio, non è detto che questo comprenda la presenza umana. È indispensabile quindi accettare l'idea che l'uomo sia uno degli infiniti esseri animati e inanimati presenti sul pianeta con i quali deve convivere accettando i propri limiti. Il progresso tecnico-scientifico millenario, che ha consentito di raggiungere gli attuali livelli di benessere, è l'altra faccia della medaglia del saccheggio del pianeta: non si deve dimenticare che è l'uomo ad aver bisogno del pianeta, non il contrario. Per questo motivo, una riflessione sulla didattica della storia deve prevedere che il concetto di ambiente attraversi tutto il curricolo verticale non solo di storia, ma anche di altre discipline, come del resto sollecitano l'Agenda 2030 e il DM 35 sull'insegnamento dell'Educazione Civica. È indispensabile quindi assumere un'ottica interdisciplinare per sollecitare consapevolezza negli studenti verso i problemi ambientali e per valorizzarli nel curricolo di storia in una triplice valenza eco-geo-storica.

2025, CATENA

As extreme events are expected to become more frequent, the combination of different environmental approaches is essential to apprehend the evolution of their occurrences. This requires a substantial time depth with a robust record of such events. This work presents a combined approach crossing historical, dendrochronological and meteorological indicators to document storm occurrences from a primary maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) treering dataset extracted at Pointe d'Arcay coastal environment (western France), covering the period 1964 to 2019. From the analyses of tree-ring patterns, we identified fourteen years during which the growth of trees was strongly disturbed by significant storm winds, including those associated with Lothar and Martin (1999), Xynthia (2010), Joachim (2012), Klaus and Quinten (2009) storm systems. The analysis of wind parameters (intensity, direction, and persistence) based on ERA5 reanalysis showed a ~85 % fit between historical archives, dendrochronology, and meteorological data. As trees were sampled through the main tilting axis, tree rings revealed the impacts of windstorms originating from only one direction. The wind intensity appears to be an important factor to produce tree-ring eccentric growth; however, it does not explain all eccentric growth cases. Thus, we analyzed wind persistence as a potential parameter influencing dendrochronological signals recorded during years without storms. We demonstrate that dendrochronology, with the support of meteorological, historical and reanalysis wind data, accurately documents storm winds in a mid-latitude coastal environment. Tree-ring archives are effective to estimate windy phases of extratropical storms and can be used to understand past storm activity with trees older than the available meteorological records.

2025

Halics-Volhínia 14. század eleji történetét sűrű homály fedi, ami a források hiányából adódik. A 13. század végéig vannak információink a Halics-Volhíniai Évkönyvből (HVÉ), illetve 1340 után, amikor a lengyel koro nához tartozott Halicsnak egy része, a lengyel kancellária tevékenységén ke resztül növekszik az adatok mennyisége. Ugyanakkor a 14. század eleje az az időszak, amikor a terület a lengyel királyság és a litván nagyfejedelemség részévé vált, azaz jelentősen átrendeződött a térség politikai arculata. Halics-Volhínia sajátossága az a különös "peremvidék-helyzet", amelynek tulajdonképpen a létét is köszönheti: peremvidéknek számított mind a Kijevi Rusz, mind Kis-Lengyelország-Mazóvia, mind a Magyar Ki rályság szemszögéből. Eredendően nem tartozott a Kijevi Ruszhoz sem: a 10-11. század fordulóján a keleti és nyugati szlávok közötti határzóna terü lete volt (Cservonnaja Rusz) (1саевич 1996: 81-104). A 11. század utolsó harmadában kiformálódó -akkor még igen kicsi -központok (Peremysl, Tyerebovl) a steppe világával (kunok) kontaktusba lépve teremtették meg önállóságukat (SRH: I, 414-415; Font 2005b). Ez a "peremvidék-szituáció" a 12. század során kedvezően hatott, hiszen minden oldalról biztosítani tudta Halics függetlenségét (Грушевський 1903-1905: П, 407-504). A 12. szá zad végéig Volhínia más utat járt be, Vlagyimir Monomah leszármazottainak Msztyiszlavics ágához tartozott. A 12. század során Halics-Volhínia gaz dasági helyzete előnyösen változott: a kunok steppei jelenléte miatt a dnyeperi vízi közlekedés elveszítette biztonságát, és a forgalom a Dnyeszterre helyeződött át . , Az adókból származó jövedelem, amelyet a sókereskedelem tovább növelt, nemcsak a Rurik dinasztia fejedelmeit, hanem a bojárokat is gazda gította (Halbach 1985: 209-215; Heller 1987: 147). Nem csoda, hogy a 12. 'Készült az MTA-ELTE Történeti Ruszisztika 2006 TKI 194 támogatásával.

2025, Sustainability

Climate change adaptation (CCA) evolved in the global policy framework in the early 1990s. However, it began to flourish about a decade later through a subsequent development of institutions, policies and supporting financial mechanisms. Various adaptation approaches and development practices have been evolving over the last couple of decades through a process of scrutiny, debates, and critiques. One such recent approach is called conflict-sensitive adaptation, which encompasses concepts to understand potential conflict-inflicting elements and peacebuilding aspects of adaptation interventions. This paper examines 35 peer-reviewed research articles that have analysed field data with the notion of conceptualising conflict-sensitive CCA initiatives. Emerging key results were presented and discussed in different academic forums to stimulate peer reflections and debates. We found that the understanding of conflict-sensitive adaptation has its universality in engaging with diverse stakeho...

2025, Climatic Change 178, 87 (2025)

Studie zu einer Interkonnektivität kriegerischer Auseinandersetzungen mit klimatischen Ereignis-sen. Datengrundlagen sind dendrochronologische Messungen in Korrelation zu überlieferten Kon-flikten im römischen Reich und an den Grenzen des... more

2025, Geophysical Research Letters

Europe is expected to experience major climatic shifts during the 21st century but the impact on agricultural productivity from such changes is uncertain. Here, we combine proxy, instrumental, and model data to assess interannual to multi‐centennial changes in central European agroclimate over the past 2,000 years and projections into the near future. Whereas early 21st century conditions are rare but not fully unprecedented, more than half of the area that was considered highly productive throughout the Common Era in central Europe currently falls outside of that definition. This trend will likely continue as even the most conservative climate projections push central Europe outside the range of past natural variability of changes to agroclimatic zones. Reconstructed extremes prior to the instrumental record align well with contemporary documentary records of societal upheaval. Forecasted changes to the main agroclimatic drivers require substantial adaptation in land use and agricultural management strategies of considerable costs.

2025

Through six case studies of major historical as well as recent droughts, the paper provides an overview of the documented short-and long-term drought impacts, the level of resilience, typical administrative and societal responses in historical Hungary and the Carpathian Basin, in East Central Europe, where even today drought is the singlemost important climate-related natural hazard. The analysis includes the presentation and complex system analysis of four outstanding, well-documented historical droughts occurred in the early 1360s, early 1500s, the 1710s(-1720s) and in the early 1860s, and the recent outstanding drought of 2022, with discussing the different levels, changes and development of drought mitigation, prevention and adaption methods since the Middle Ages until the present. Despite its low-lying, partly flood-prone position, the GHP, especially its central and southern parts are rather sensitive to droughts. Indeed drought is the leading natural hazard in the central and eastern, more continental parts of the CB, including the Transylvanian basins. However, the greatest droughts, such as the one that happened in 2022, usually affect the entire CB, except for its most westerly and north-westerly parts. Apart from the intensity and magnitude of drought and other weather-related or biological hazards (animal invasions and plant, animal, or human diseases), the negative consequences of major weather extremes strongly depended on the environmental and socio-economic context, and the local, regional, and international conditions that immediately preceded the drought. Among many factors, it is important to emphasise the international food market conditions and the role of grain (animal and other food) export prior to and during the drought, as a key additional factor of an evolving food crisis. Depending on the economic and political conditions, population density, the level of agricultural production, the administrative system, reserves, transportation and redistribution possibilities, the magnitude of regional differences, resilience capacities of the countries of the CB varied over time. Although it is not yet possible to provide a long-term overview of absolute resilience levels in the CB and their changes over time, in order to give some basic ideas, we present here a first hypothetic-holistic estimation of resilience levels of the CB over the last approximately 1000 years (Fig. ). Apart from the level of economic and legal-administrative development, and important additional factors such as transportation and storage capacity, war and natural hazards were the two most important triggers for societal resilience. The relatively high estimated climate resilience level of the high-medieval period in the CB (see Fig. ), even compared to other parts of Europe, 2 is related to the very low number of famines mentioned in narrative sources, 3 and the estimated low population density. 4 Furthermore, in the CB relatively high agricultural yields, the strong, relatively centralized state, the dense system of small agricultural settlements (allowing for relatively fast communication), land and water management practices were also important. 5 The overall image of a rich country in the view of foreign observers 6 and the fact that the documented crisis periods in other parts of Europe usually showed little or no signs in high-medieval Hungary or Slavonia may also indirectly support the higher resilience level of the country compared to other parts of (Central) Europe. Even after the Great Mongol Invasion (1241-1242), which caused the greatest high-medieval crisis and famine in the kingdom, large parts of the country economically regenerated relatively quickly, within years). 7 When detectable, high-medieval archaeological evidence also suggests a generally well-fed contemporary population, 8 which, in times of crisis in Western or West-Central Europe, the country acted as a receptive area towards European migrants. 9

2025

The water erosion is considered as the most important factor having impact on the agricultural land degradation. In the past, many methodes of soil erosion processes by using mathematical models has been developped. The mostly applicated is the universal soil loss equation USLE. The USLE equation has been used as the basis for new erosion models WaTEM/ SEDEM (Van Rompaey a kol. 2001, Van Oost a kol. 2000, Verstraeten a kol. 2002) and USPED (Mitášová a kol., 1996). The two of them are applicated in the experimental catchement of Černičí. The WaTEM/ SEDEM model is able to count the river sediment export as well. The intensity of erosion processes is increasing during extraordinary rainfall - rainoff events. This thesis is evaluating their causes, frequency and course from two points of view: the course of runoff and the sediment transport. The water quality is also evaluated.Vodní eroze patří v České republice k nejzávažnějším faktorům, které poškozují zemědělské půdy. V minulosti byl...

2025

The water erosion is considered as the most important factor having impact on the agricultural land degradation. In the past, many methodes of soil erosion processes by using mathematical models has been developped. The mostly applicated is the universal soil loss equation USLE. The USLE equation has been used as the basis for new erosion models WaTEM/ SEDEM (Van Rompaey a kol. 2001, Van Oost a kol. 2000, Verstraeten a kol. 2002) and USPED (Mitášová a kol., 1996). The two of them are applicated in the experimental catchement of Černičí. The WaTEM/ SEDEM model is able to count the river sediment export as well. The intensity of erosion processes is increasing during extraordinary rainfall - rainoff events. This diploma thesis is evaluating their causes, frequency and course from two points of view: the course of runoff and the sediment transport. The water quality is also evaluated. KEY WORDS: erosion, extraordinary rainfall - runoff event, USPED, WaTEM/ SEDE

2025

Documentary climate data describe evidence of past climate arising from predominantly written historical documents such as diaries, chronicles, newspapers, or logbooks. Over the past decades, historians and climatologists have generated numerous document-based time series of local and regional climate. However, a global dataset of documentary climate time series has never been compiled, and documentary data are rarely used in large-scale climate reconstructions. Here, we present the first global multi-variable collection of documentary climate records. The dataset DOCU-CLIM comprises 621 time series (both published and hitherto unpublished) providing information on historical variations in temperature, precipitation, and wind regime. The series are evaluated by formulating proxy forward models (i.e., predicting the documentary observations from climate fields) in an overlapping period. Results show strong correlations particularly for the temperature sensitive series. Correlations a...

2025, Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

Risks Due to Variability of K-Day Extreme Precipitation Totals and Other K-Day Extreme EventsSeveral alternative definitions of extreme events are proposed. As the first step a statistical analysis of daily precipitation measurement time series from the Hurbanovo SHMI Observatory and elaboration of potentially dangerous precipitation events is carried out. Then, combined characteristics based on daily temperature, daily air humidity and daily precipitation totals are computed. The drought index based on normalized deviations from long-term averages is defined. Alternatively, to define extreme events "Data envelopment analysis" (DEA) is employed withK-day periods of values of temperature, humidity and precipitation corresponding to decision making units. In this paper we have used the period ofK= 10 days for both methodologies for identification of extreme events. The results of all definitions of extreme events are compared.

2025, Wiley

Droughts are a factor of historic durability and because of their impacts on societies, they left multiple indicators in the archives of the last 500 years. For the record, it is necessary to remind ourselves that the general term of ‘drought’ covers different notions. In the most frequent meaning of the word, it is synonymic of a pluviometric deficit and an extreme climate event. It is thus important to understand that for the historian droughts are viewed through the 'social signature' of these extreme events as recorded over the centuries in the European archives. They can thus be appreciably different from the definitions used by the hydrologists, and need to be assessed and categorized according to the Historical Severity Drought Scale in order to provide usual comparative data series.

2025

Fakulta rybářství a ochrany vod Ústav akvakultury a ochrany vod Diplomová práce Využití umělých substrátů pro hodnocení kvality odtékající vody z organických a konvenčních kaprových rybníků Autor: Bc. Jan GRACÍK Vedoucí diplomové práce:... more

2025, HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)

2025, hrcak.srce.hr

This paper aims to show that volcanic activity was the prime factor that initiated a sequence of natural disasters in Croatia during the early 19 th century. The Napoleonic wars were still roaring when two volcano eruptions affected Europe. The first one occurred in 1808/09 and was followed by the eruption of the Tambora volcano in 1815. These eruptions produced a negative effect on weather conditions from 1809 to 1818. The daily minimal temperatures in the northern hemisphere, from late spring to early autumn, were abnormally low in this period. As a consequence, the Croatian lands were struck by crop failures, and famine became widespread because of inadequate measures against food shortage. However, the most detrimental outcome was a catastrophic epidemic plague which lasted from 1814 to 1818.

2025

Heavy runoff does not always lead to fl oods. The deciding factor is the hydraulic simulation. With an exact site reconstruction, past fl ood events can be simulated using hydrological and hydraulic models. However, such estimates come... more

2025, Svět v obrazech a ve frazeologii III / World in Pictures and in Phraseology III

Weather lore sayings in Central European Languages

2025, Coastal Environments in the West of Ireland; Sea, Land and Spirit

This papers outlines the impact of the Tambora eruption of Ireland in the context of the weather and climate of the period 1809-1819 including temperature, precipitation and extreme events. In addition the impact of the event on the Irish... more

2025

In einer Zeit, in der sich Klimastreiks auf der ganzen Welt ausbreiten, entwirrt dieses Buch die Fäden eines Konzepts, das in hohem Maße mobilisiert und entsprechende Medienaufmerksamkeit erfährt. Der Ausdruck «Rettung des Klimas» scheint einfach. Doch die verschiedenen disziplinären Kulturen verstehen und definieren dieses Schlagwort unterschiedlich: Ist das Klima der Geografie dasselbe wie das der Wirtschaftswissenschaften? Welche Methoden wendet die Literaturwissenschaft in ihren Studien an und welche die Archäologie, um den Boden zu untersuchen? Verändert der Klimawandel das institutionelle Wissen über das Klima in den einzelnen Disziplinen? Das Buch deckt ein breites Spektrum von Ansätzen, Erkenntnistheorien und Methoden zum Verständnis des Klimas in den Geistes-und Sozialwissenschaften ab.

2025, Land

Fighting land degradation of semi-arid and climate-sensitive grasslands are among the most urgent tasks of current eco-political agenda. Particularly, northern China and Mongolia are prone to climate-induced surface transformations, which were reinforced by the heavily increased numbers of livestock during the 20th century. Extensive overgrazing and resource exploitation amplified regional climate change effects and triggered intensified land degradation that forced policy-driven interventions to prevent desertification. In the past, however, the regions have been subject to continuous shifts in environmental and socio-cultural and political conditions, which makes it particularly difficult to distinguish into regional anthropogenic impact and global climate change effects. This article presents analyses of historical written sources, palaeoenvironmental data, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) temporal series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MO...

2025, Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

Review only

2025, Theatralia

Studie se zabývá kulturním fenoménem vojenských reenactmentů, širší veřejnosti známým především díky populárním ukázkám tzv. bitevních rekonstrukcí. Tento fenomén byl donedávna kvůli svému divadelnímu charakteru považován za historiograficky nebo epistemologicky nerelevantní. Autoři využívají napětí mezi tělesností a minulostí jako příležitost k interdisciplinárnímu výzkumu vojenského reenactmentu, prezentují jej jako spleť komplexních činností a nahlížejí na něj z různých perspektiv humanitních a sociálních věd. Cílem autorů je seznámit čtenáře s komplexitou tohoto fenoménu a vytyčit některé klíčové otázky týkající se reenactmentu, které mohou být zodpovězeny s využitím přístupů divadelních a performančních studií.

2025, Brázdil, Rudolf; Bauch, Martin; Dobrovolný, Petr; Melo, Márian: The Potential of Historical Climatology for (Environmental) History in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in: Zückert, Martin; Holec, Roman (Hg.), Umweltgeschichte in mitteleuropäischen Kontexten. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitä...

Brázdil, Rudolf; Bauch, Martin; Dobrovolný, Petr; Melo, Márian: The Potential of Historical Climatology for (Environmental) History in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in: Zückert, Martin; Holec, Roman (Hg.), Umweltgeschichte in mitteleuropäischen Kontexten. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag 2024 (Veröffentlichungen der Deutsch-Tschechischen und Deutsch-Slowakischen Historikerkommission, 26), S. 25-70

2025, Progress in Physical Geography

Review only

2025, Japan Geoscience Union

We undertook a multi-disciplinary project aimed at synthesizing data, knowledge, and quantitative models on ecosystem and social resilience to the changing climate and dynamic socioeconomic pressures placed on the fragile ecosystems of the Mongolian Plateau. Our models of natural system (NS) and human system (HS) processes and dynamics, as well as the interactions and feedbacks among them, make use of multiple data sources across the Plateau. Inner Mongolia, in China, and Mongolia have had similar variations in climate, ecosystem, culture, and traditions, but different institutions, land-use intensities, levels of economic development, and demographic changes in the recent past. Among the major lessons are: 1) the spatiotemporal variation of physical and anthropogenic changes, as well as their effects on the ecosystems and societies, appeared much higher than previously expected; 2) though spatially variable, overall grassland biomass has been increasing in the past 15 years as a re...

2025, Blog-Pensando

L’Amazzonia sta già registrando i primi segni di siccità nei suoi fiumi. Le misurazioni mostrano che la situazione della siccità nel 2024 potrebbe essere più grave di quella vissuta l'anno scorso, quando si registrò la più grande siccità... more

2025, Medieval Worlds

Empires formed by nomadic peoples of Inner Asia in premodern times loom large in Eurasian history, both in terms of their influence on settled societies and for the broader geopolitical and cultural changes that they engendered. Historians have looked in the past at climate variability as a possible contributing, or even essential, factor in the rise and fall of such imperial formations. However, only with the development of historical climatology and the availability of reliable climatic reconstructions specifically relevant to the steppe regions where such empires originated has it become possible to formulate more precise hypotheses regarding climatic impacts on economic, political or social processes. This essay discusses the relationship between climate and steppe empires by presenting several case studies, including the Eastern Türk (603-630 CE), Uyghur (744-840 CE), and Mongol (c. 1206-1368) empires. The analysis of climatic phenomena affecting the rise, expansion, and fall of these formations serves to illustrate the potential uses of climate reconstructions and environmental data in the study of political, economic, social, and military dynamics. In addition to looking at the steppe region itself (chiefly Mongolia), the study focuses on specific vulnerabilities connected with the Mongols' expansion in regions with environmental conditions unfamiliar to them. While this is an early and still preliminary study, it aims to lay the groundwork for future investigations and to offer insights into the use of paleoclimatic data for historical research. It must also be said that the hypotheses and results reported in the studies analyzed here have themselves engendered considerable discussion and controversy. Additional publications written in response or in parallel to the papers presented here are not discussed in detail because such discussions would require a much larger space, considering that each study covers a separate historical context, but are nonetheless noted for further reading.

2025, PAGES Global Changes Horizons

This comic illustrates the Icelandic Laki eruption (1783-1784) and the contemporaneous attempts to understand its physical impacts across Europe and much of the northern hemisphere, most notably the dry fog of the summer of 1783. The... more

2025, Volcanica

The integration of archives of societies with archives of nature has led to collaborations between the natural sciences and the humanities. Not all those involved consider these archives equal, which led to some studies featuring explanations promoting nature as the prime agent in history. The field of the history of climate and society is currently experiencing a shift away from monocausal explanations. Cultural factors must be considered and their contribution to disasters must be examined. This paper introduces an easy-to-use step-by-step approach composed of crucial questions that need to be considered to analyze the entanglement of nature and society in relation to nature-induced disasters. The approach was developed by examining two large Icelandic fissure eruptions, Eldgjá (939-940 CE) and Laki (1783-1784 CE). The approach presented in this paper offers increased understanding across disciplinary cultures from the perspective of historians and is intended as a thought-provoking impulse for future studies. RÉSUMÉ L'intégration des archives sociétales et des archives naturelles a favorisé la collaboration entre les sciences naturelles et les sciences humaines. Cependant, toutes les approches ne considèrent pas ces archives comme égales, ce qui a mené à la publication d'études où la nature est présentée comme l'agent principal de l'histoire. Actuellement, le domaine de l'histoire du climat et des sociétés connaît une évolution qui s'éloigne des explications monocausales. Les facteurs culturels doivent être pris en compte, tout comme leur rôle dans les catastrophes. Cet article propose une méthode simple, en plusieurs étapes, comprenant des questions essentielles à poser pour analyser les intrications entre la nature et la société lors de catastrophes d'origine naturelle. Cette approche s'appuie sur l'examen des grandes éruptions fissurales islandaises, Eldgjá (939-940) et Laki (1783-1784). L'objectif de cet article est d'améliorer la compréhension entre les différentes disciplines du point de vue des historiens et de susciter de nouvelles pistes de recherche.

2025, Climate of The Past

2025, Quaternary Science Reviews

The African continent is characterised by a wide range of hydroclimate regimes, ranging from humid equatorial West Africa to the arid deserts in the northern and southern subtropics. The livelihoods of much of its population are also vulnerable to future climate change, mainly through variability in rainfall affecting water resource availability. A growing number of data sources indicate that such hydroclimatic variability is an intrinsic component of Africa's natural environment. This paper, co-authored by members of the PAGES Africa 2k Working Group, presents an extensive assessment and discussion of proxy, historical and instrumental evidence for hydroclimatic variability across the African continent, spanning the last two millennia. While the African palaeoenvironmental record is characterised by spatially disjunctive datasets, with often less-than-optimal temporal resolution and chronological control, the available evidence allows the assessment of prominent spatial patterns of palaeomoisture variability through time. In this study, we focus sequentially on data for six major time windows: the first millennium AD, the Medieval Climate Anomaly (900-1250 CE), the Little Ice Age (1250-1750 CE), the end of the LIA (1750-1850 CE), the Early Modern Period , and the period of recent warming (1950 onwards). This results in a continentwide synthesis of regional moisture-balance trends through history, allowing consideration of possible driving mechanisms, and suggestions for future research.

2025