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‘Little Ice Age’ palaeotemperatures from high altitude tree growth in S. Norway

Abstract

THE sensitivity of tree growth to climate has led to reconstruction of past climates from long tree-growth records1,2. Growth at the treeline in mountain regions and at the polar limits of tree growth is particularly useful because, in these locations, moisture is normally adequate and growth has been shown to be highly dependent on summer temperatures3,4. Some other environmental factors have been recognised as influences on the growth of trees5,6, but such factors are of relatively minor importance in this type of habitat. I reconstruct here a continuous record of summer temperature fluctuations representative of treeline conditions in the central southern Norwegian fjell since AD 1700. Combination of tree-ring data with information from glacier fluctuations over the same period shows short term oscillations of amplitude 1.0–3.0 °C superimposed on a long term increase in temperature of 1.0 °C.

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MATTHEWS, J. ‘Little Ice Age’ palaeotemperatures from high altitude tree growth in S. Norway. Nature 264, 243–245 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/264243a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/264243a0

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