Gulf of Alaska 1200 Year Surface Air Temperature Reconstruction Wiles, G.; D'Arrigo, R.D.; Barclay, D.; Wilson, R.J.S.; Jarvis, S.K.; Vargo, L.; Frank, D.C. Wiles, G. D'Arrigo, R.D. Barclay, D. Wilson, R.J.S. Jarvis, S.K. Vargo, L. Frank, D.C. Air Temperature Reconstruction earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|tree ring (age,null,null,year Common Era,null,climate reconstructions|tree ring,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/climate reconstructions|tree ring (surface air temperature,ring width,null,degree Celsius,Feb-Aug,climate reconstructions|tree ring,null,null,N,null) earth science/paleoclimate/reconstructions (Gulf of Alaska>LATITUDE >LONGITUDE ) A 1200-year-long tree-ring width record from living and subfossil mountain hemlock wood is used to reconstruct February through August temperatures for the Gulf of Alaska, providing a record of past climate variability for the Northeast Pacific sector that captures interannual to centennial timescales. The moderate elevation at the tree-ring sites has allowed these trees to retain their temperature signal without evidence of the so-called divergence effect, or underestimation of tree-ring inferred temperature trends, which is observed at many northern latitude forest locations. This 'divergence-free' reconstruction reveals centennial trends that include a warm interval centered on ad 950 for coastal Alaska that occurs around the time of the 'Medieval Warm Period', a warming that is only rivaled by recent decades. Spectral analysis of this reconstruction supports the centennial pacing identified as a 170-220-year cadence consistent with solar variability. On the decadal to bidecadal scale, the reconstruction reveals ~10- and 18-year cycles, which have been observed elsewhere in climate records for western North America and are linked to solar and lunar tidal forcing, respectively. Temperature minima that occur at ad 969-970 and 1698-1700 correspond with the timing of major volcanic events. This tree-ring reconstruction supports centennial modes of solar forcing as a driver of surface air temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska, with lunar tidal, solar variability, internal variability, and volcanism, impacting climate on annual to decadal timescales. STUDY NOTES: Gulf of Alaska February-August temperature reconstruction for the past 1200 years, based on living and subfossil mountain hemlock ring widths. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Wiles, G. Investigator : D'Arrigo, R.D. Investigator : Barclay, D. Investigator : Wilson, R.J.S. Investigator : Jarvis, S.K. Investigator : Vargo, L. Investigator : Frank, D.C. 2014-02-05 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/16015 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/gulf_of_alaska/goa2014temperature.txt https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/gulf_of_alaska/goa2014temperature.txt English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/16015 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/treering/reconstructions/gulf_of_alaska/goa2014temperature.txt Gregory C. Wiles, Rosanne D. D'Arrigo, David Barclay, Rob S. Wilson, Stephanie K. Jarvis, Lauren Vargo, and David Frank2014Surface air temperature variability reconstructed with tree rings for the Gulf of Alaska over the past 1200 years The Holocene242198-20810.1177/0959683613516815 http://hol.sagepub.com/content/24/2/198.abstract START YEAR: 800 AD * END YEAR: 2010 AD -145 57 -136 61