NOAA/WDS Paleoclimatology - Warm-season Temperature Reconstruction for Northern Alaska from 1680-1990 CE

The record of natural disasters is too short for adequate understanding of human vulnerability. Using volcanology, climatology, history, anthropology, and tree rings, we extend the record by documenting a disaster to Inuit of extreme northwest America. Tree rings indicate the coldest summer in over 400 yr in northwestern Alaska was in 1783, year of the Laki, Iceland eruption. European explorers reported famine and population decrease between 1779 and 1791. Anthropological studies indicate possible famine in nearby areas at around the same time. Inuit oral history describes extreme cold in summer causing famine and death a few centuries ago in northwest Alaska. We postulate that Laki, the unusual, cold-induced tree ring, and the recorded and oral histories of famine and death are all interrelated.

本存档古气候学（Paleoclimatology）研究数据集可由美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）下属的国家环境信息中心（National Centers for Environmental Information, NCEI）通过世界古气候学数据服务（World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, WDS）获取。该数据集对应的NCEI研究类型为气候重建（Climate Reconstruction）。数据集涵盖美国阿拉斯加州区域的气候重建相关参数，时间覆盖区间为距今270日历年至-40日历年（以BP即距今为纪年基准）。如需了解参数及研究区域的详细信息，请查阅元数据（metadata）文档。使用本数据集时，请引用该研究。