Tree Taxa Affirm A Much Warmer Alpine Climate Than Today For Nearly All Of The Last 10,000 Years

“Chironomid‐based temperature reconstructions in the central eastern Alps showed…between ca. 10 000 and 8600 cal a BP…a thermal maximum of up to 4.5°C higher temperatures than present” – Caf et al., 2023

With the exception of a century or two during the Little Ice Age (~1500-1900 CE), the European Alps have had a much higher concentration of beech (Fagus) and spruce (Picea) forest presence than today for nearly all of the last 10,000 years (Caf et al., 2023).

The much more heavily vegetated and forested area – which coincides with a warmer climate – can be clearly observed in the reconstructions of Holocene tree and shrub presence.

In the images below, notice how much greater the Alpine forest coverage was during the Medieval Warm Period (~600 to 1000 CE) and the 8 to 10 millennia preceding it.

Even during the last 400-500 years, encompassing the Little Ice Age, there were as-warm or warmer periods than today.

So, once again, we have another study affirming the modern climate is not only not unusually warm, but actually we are currently living in one the coldest climatic periods since the end of the last glacial.

Image Source: Caf et al., 2023

10 responses to “Tree Taxa Affirm A Much Warmer Alpine Climate Than Today For Nearly All Of The Last 10,000 Years”

  1. drumphish

    Oak and elm need water and nutrients and warm temperatures.

    Rivers that meander here and there are a habitat for the existence of primary producers.

    Spruce will be at the timberline if it follows the growth of coniferous species. The temperate climate on the west coast goes up all the way to Alaska. Spruce grow to 200 feet tall, makes good lumber.

    Doesn’t the data suggest a continued cooling period?

    It’s been one rugged and rough winter, Old Man Winter refuses to give it up. More snow is the forecast. The bears up north are still hibernating.

    It just doesn’t end, Kiev would be a paradise, the misery index is red-lined to the peg. Another war of all against all is what it is.

    The Covid pandemic is a walk in the park, it is bad.

    1. oebele bruinsma

      A very poetic way of describing current events, thanks

  2. Jeremy Poynton

    “Doesn’t the data suggest a continued cooling period?”

    We’ve been on a 7k year cooling trend since the Holocene Optimum, interspersed with warm periods, each cooler than the last. Same as preceding interstadials

    Oddly the late 20th Century Warm Period, now nearly a quarter of a century ago, induced a severe bout of Millennial madness, still in evidence.

  3. dm

    Hopefully, the authors are prepared for alarmists to attack along the following lines. The study merely illustrates the environmental consequences of isostatic adjustment. Thus, it does NOT invalidate the concept of catastrophic Mann-made climate change. [Mann deliberately misspelled;-}]

    The Julian Alps’ elevation was lower than at present for most of the time since the last glacial. Why? Isostatic adjustment during and after the last glacial. Furthermore, sea level was closer to the mountain peaks.

    The combination contributed to a warmer & more humid climate than today. Every 100 m of elevation change causes a 0.8-0.85 C change in temperature. Because the Julian Alps could have been 100-200 m closer to sea level for hundreds of years after the last glacial, the elevation effect would account for only 20-35% of the vegetation difference observed and temperature difference estimated by the authors. The rest of the temperature increase MUST be attributed to Mann!

  4. Tree Taxa Affirm A Much Warmer Alpine Climate Than Today For Nearly All Of The Last 10,000 Years - Climate- Science.press

    […] From NoTricksZone […]

  5. Rehoboth

    Wonderful post

  6. Rehoboth

    Excellent post

  7. Latest UN Climate Doom Report Falsely Claims Global Temperatures Are "Highest for 125,000 Years" – The Daily Sceptic

    […] ago. A sample can be read here, here and here. Earlier this year, a group of European scientists published a paper analysing tree remains that suggested there was a much warmer climate in the Alps during most of […]

  8. Criticise the IPCC for what it writes, not what the press/blogosphere says it writes. | In Moderation

    […] A sample can be read here, here and here. Earlier this year, a group of European scientists published a paper analysing tree remains that suggested there was a much warmer climate in the Alps during most of […]

  9. Rehoboth

    Very nice post

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