A composite reconstruction of the Russian Arctic climate back to A.D. 1435

Abstract

The section presents the combined climate reconstruction of Russian Arctic since 1435 based on historical documents, proxy paleodata and model calculations. This work introduces little known pieces of evidence with various kinds of climatic or natural history information reported by European and Russian seafarers, travelers, and explorers who visited the Barents and Kara sea basins. As the amount and quality of information for individual time intervals are, however, insufficient (particularly for the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries) for correct quantitative temperature reconstruction, in this work the results of the historical-climatological study and the data of the climate simulation in the BKS region are combined to produce such a reconstruction. Results of the study indicates that in passed six centuries large temperature variations comparable with the present warming occurred in Russian Arctic in historic times due to the natural climate factors. This climate pattern had a great influence on the discovery and development of the region. © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2010.