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Ancient Texts Fill Blanks in Climate History

Posted Sep 16, 07 11:50 AM CDT in Science & Health    Editor's Choice

(Newser) – Scientists are poring over the diaries of 17th century Swiss monks and Parisian physicians for data to help judge changes in Europe’s climate, the AP reports. Piecing together records from things as disparate as military campaigns and cherry blossom festivals dispels any doubt that the Earth is heating up, according to climate historian Christian Pfister. Last winter was Europe’s warmest in 500 years, Pfister says.

Anecdotal evidence from surviving documents—the monks record a January so cold the communion wine froze in its chalice; a late harvest because "there was hardly ever a really warm day"—fills in the blanks before thermometers were standardized in the 19th century. And concerns about global warming have transformed what Pfister says was once a "wallflower science" into a dynamic discipline.

Source Associated Press

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One of 13 diaries by Brother Josef, inscribed from 1671 to 1704 is shown Aug. 15, 2007 in the Monastery in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Frozen communion wine, soft rains that caressed the earth and winds...   (Associated Press)
A page in one of 13 diaries by Brother Josef, inscribed from 1671 to 1704 is shown Aug. 15, 2007 in the Monastery in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. Frozen communion wine, soft rains that caressed the earth...   (Associated Press)
A shepherd walks in the mountains of Abondance, in the Savoie region, French Alps, Wednesday, July 11, 2007. Muddy slopes, slushy peaks, unused lifts, this town in the French Alps is living out the nightmare...   (Associated Press)
A man is seen walking with a dog along a dry cracked reservoir bed in Alcora, eastern Spain in this May 20, 2005 file photo. Climate change in Europe's Mediterranean region will sap electric power generation,...   (Associated Press)
An iceberg melts in circular patterns in Kulusuk Bay, eastern Greenland, Tuesday July 17, 2007. The melting of the Greenland ice cap and its effect on the the area around Greenland is one of the more...   (Associated Press)
People look at a climate change installation built by Friends of the Earth outside of an EU summit in Brussels, Friday March 9, 2007. European Union leaders drafted an agreement Friday promising to take...   (Associated Press)
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climate change  • global warming  • Europe  • weather  • history


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