Temperature reconstruction (1750-2008) from Dahurian larch tree-rings in an area subject to permafrost in Inner Mongolia, Northeast China

Abstract

May-September temperatures were reconstructed for the past 250 yr based on Dahurian larch Larix gmelinii Rupr. growing in permafrost region of Northeast China. The reconstruction accounts for 39.3% of the actual temperature variance over the period 1958-2008. The reconstruction captured 3 relatively cold periods in 1847-1852, 1861-1866 and 1935-1941; 2 relatively warm periods in 1874-1879 and 2001-2008; and a persistent warming trend since the mid-20th century. The longterm changes in temperature documented here correspond well with regional temperature change from observational records, other global and regional proxy-based temperature reconstructions, and documented changes in regional permafrost. Thus, valuable information might be preserved in our reconstruction about local-to regional-scale climatic variation during the past 2.5 centuries. © Inter-Research 2011.