Greater Tatra Region, 1040-2011 AD, tree ring width, Larix decidua Mill., PAGES Euro-Med 2k Version Büntgen, U.; Kyncl, T.; Ginzler, C.; Jacks, D.S.; Esper, J.; Tegel, W.; Heussner, K.-U.; Kyncl, J. Büntgen, U. Kyncl, T. Ginzler, C. Jacks, D.S. Esper, J. Tegel, W. Heussner, K.-U. Kyncl, J. PAGES 2k Network PAGES Euro-Med 2k LADE Larix decidua Mill. European larch earth science/paleoclimate/tree-ring (Tatra region>LATITUDE >LONGITUDE ) Tree ring-based temperature reconstructions form the scientific backbone of the current global change debate. Although some European records extend into medieval times, high-resolution, long-term, regional-scale paleoclimatic evidence is missing for the eastern part of the continent. Here we compile 545 samples of living trees and historical timbers from the greater Tatra region to reconstruct interannual to centennial-long variations in Eastern European May-June temperature back to 1040 AD. Recent anthropogenic warming exceeds the range of past natural climate variability. Increased plague outbreaks and political conflicts, as well as decreased settlement activities, coincided with temperature depressions. The Black Death in the mid-14th century, the Thirty Years War in the early 17th century, and the French Invasion of Russia in the early 19th century all occurred during the coldest episodes of the last millennium. A comparison with summer temperature reconstructions from Scandinavia, the Alps, and the Pyrenees emphasizes the seasonal and spatial specificity of our results, questioning those large-scale reconstructions that simply average individual sites. STUDY NOTES: A total of 545 larch (Larix decidua Mill.) TRW samples were collected at seven forest sites and >30 historical buildings within the greater Tatra region in northern Slovakia (SI Appendix, Fig. S1). All living and historical material originates from approximately the same elevational range between 800 and 1,200 m asl and is therefore expected to reflect similar climatic information. The 282 recent TRW measurement series were cross-dated and processed at the site level, whereas the 263 relict samples were pooled before their dendroclimatological assessment. NCDC-Paleoclimatology https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/paleoclimatology-data - Bauer Bruce Investigator : Büntgen, U. Investigator : Kyncl, T. Investigator : Ginzler, C. Investigator : Jacks, D.S. Investigator : Esper, J. Investigator : Tegel, W. Investigator : Heussner, K.-U. Investigator : Kyncl, J. 2013-05-15 ONLINE Files online, ASCII https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003402 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_PNAS_2013.txt https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13669 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_PNAS_2013.txt https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13669 English https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/1003402 https://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/reconstructions/pages2k/euro-med2k/Buentgen_et_al_PNAS_2013.txt https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/13669 Ulf Büntgen, Tomás Kyncl, Christian Ginzler, David S. Jacks, Jan Esper, Willy Tegel, Karl-Uwe Heussner, and Josef Kyncl. 2013. Filling the Eastern European gap in millennium-long temperature reconstructions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 14-January-2013. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1211485110 START YEAR: 1040 AD * END YEAR: 2011 AD 19 49 21 50