Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction during the last millennium using multiple annual proxies

Shi F, Yang B, Mairesse A, von Gunten L, Li J, Bräuning A, Yang F, Xiao X (2013)

Publication Language: English

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2013

Journal

Climate Research Inter Research

Publisher: Inter Research

Book Volume: 56

Pages Range: 231-244

Journal Issue: 3

URI: http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/cr/v56/n3/p231-244

DOI: 10.3354/cr01156

Abstract

Previous studies have either exclusively used annual tree-ring data or have combined tree-ring series with other, lower temporal resolution proxy series. Both approaches can lead to significant uncertainties, as tree-rings may underestimate the amplitude of past temperature variations, and the validity of non-annual records cannot be clearly assessed. In this study, we assembled 45 published Northern Hemisphere (NH) temperature proxy records covering the past millennium, each of which satisfied 3 essential criteria: the series must be of annual resolution, span at least a thousand years, and represent an explicit temperature signal. Suitable climate archives included ice cores, varved lake sediments, tree-rings and speleothems. We reconstructed the average annual land temperature series for the NH over the last millennium by applying 3 different reconstruction techniques: (1) principal components (PC) plus second-order autoregressive model (AR2), (2) composite plus scale (CPS) and (3) regularized errors-in-variables approach (EIV). Our reconstruction is in excellent agreement with 6 climate model simulations (including the first 5 models derived from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and an earth system model of intermediate complexity (LOVECLIM), showing similar temperatures at multidecadal timescales; however, all simulations appear to underestimate the temperature during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). A comparison with other NH reconstructions shows that our results are consistent with earlier studies. These results indicate that well-validated annual proxy series should be used to minimize proxy-based artifacts, and that these proxy series contain sufficient information to reconstruct the low-frequency climate variability over the past millennium. © Inter-Research 2013.

Authors with CRIS profile

Achim Bräuning Lehrstuhl für Geographie (Physische Geographie)

Involved external institutions

Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI) CN China (CN) Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) / Catholic University of Leuven BE Belgium (BE) Universität Bern CH Switzerland (CH)

How to cite

APA:

Shi, F., Yang, B., Mairesse, A., von Gunten, L., Li, J., Bräuning, A.,... Xiao, X. (2013). Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction during the last millennium using multiple annual proxies. Climate Research, 56(3), 231-244. https://dx.doi.org/10.3354/cr01156

MLA:

Shi, Feng, et al. "Northern Hemisphere temperature reconstruction during the last millennium using multiple annual proxies." Climate Research 56.3 (2013): 231-244.

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