Showing papers by "Kevin J. Anchukaitis published in 2009"
TL;DR: It is found that intervals of severe drought lasting for periods ranging from decades to centuries are characteristic of the monsoon and are linked to natural variations in Atlantic temperatures, indicating that themonsoon is capable of longer and more severe future droughts.
Abstract: Although persistent drought in West Africa is well documented from the instrumental record and has been primarily attributed to changing Atlantic sea surface temperatures, little is known about the length, severity, and origin of drought before the 20th century. We combined geomorphic, isotopic, and geochemical evidence from the sediments of Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana, to reconstruct natural variability in the African monsoon over the past three millennia. We find that intervals of severe drought lasting for periods ranging from decades to centuries are characteristic of the monsoon and are linked to natural variations in Atlantic temperatures. Thus the severe drought of recent decades is not anomalous in the context of the past three millennia, indicating that the monsoon is capable of longer and more severe future droughts.
345 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed a correction procedure that attempts to calculate the δ13C values that would have been obtained under pre-industrial conditions using nonlinear regression, but the magnitude of the adjustment made is restricted by two logical constraints based on the physiological response of trees.
230 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors presented white spruce (Picea glauca ) tree-ring width and maximum latewood density chronologies for two latitudinal treeline sites in northern interior Canada: along the Coppermine River in the Northwest Territories (NWT); and in the Thelon River Sanctuary, Nunavut.
67 citations