Tree rings, carbon dioxide, and climatic change

Tree rings have been used in various applications to reconstruct past climates as well as to assess the effects of recent climatic and environmental change on tree growth. In this paper we briefly review two ways that tree rings provide information about climate change and CO2: (i) in determining wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1997-08, Vol.94 (16), p.8350-8353
Main Authors: Jacoby, G.C. (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, NY.), D'Arrigo, R.D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ANILLO DE CRECIMIENTO
ARBOLES
ARBRE
ATMOSFERA
ATMOSPHERE
CAMBIO CLIMATICO
CARBON DIOXIDE
CERNE
CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE
Climate
Climate change
Climate models
CLIMATIC CHANGE
CLIMATOLOGIA
CLIMATOLOGIE
CLIMATOLOGY
DENDROCLIMATOLOGY
DIOXIDO DE CARBONO
DIOXYDE DE CARBONE
Fertilization
Global climate models
GLOBAL WARMING
GROWTH RINGS
Paleoclimatology
Papers from a Colloquium
Tree growth
TREES
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Summary:Tree rings have been used in various applications to reconstruct past climates as well as to assess the effects of recent climatic and environmental change on tree growth. In this paper we briefly review two ways that tree rings provide information about climate change and CO2: (i) in determining whether recent warming during the period of instrumental observations is unusual relative to prior centuries to millennia, and thus might be related to increasing greenhouse gases; and (ii) in evaluating whether enhanced radial growth has taken place in recent decades that appears to be unexplained by climate and might instead be due to increasing atmospheric CO2 or other nutrient fertilization. It is found that a number of tree-ring studies from temperature-sensitive settings indicate unusual recent warming, although there are also exceptions at certain sites. The present tree-ring evidence for a possible CO2 fertilization effect under natural environmental conditions appears to be very limited
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.94.16.8350