Tree-ring study proves that climate was warmer in Roman and Medieval times than it is in the modern

[CelticViking]

How did the Romans grow grapes in northern England? Perhaps because it was warmer than we thought.

A study suggests the Britain of 2,000 years ago experienced a lengthy period of hotter summers than today.
German researchers used data from tree rings – a key indicator of past climate – to claim the world has been on a ‘long-term cooling trend’ for two millennia until the global warming of the twentieth century.

This cooling was punctuated by a couple of warm spells.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz20MYka5fG

[YOUTUBE]T391URPJVT0[/YOUTUBE]

[The Lawspeaker]

Bye bye global warming scam.

[Dacul]

Well we got again in south Romania 38+ degrees Celsius this year...When this cooling of climate is coming since I am eagerly waiting for it.
Romanians,most of them, are not supporting this heat,I have sleeping problems cause of it and most romanians have same.I am sleeping 10-12 hours per night during winter and colder time of spring and autumn.
Record temperature for Bucharest was in 2007,about 41 degrees Celsius or so.
So how come now climate is cooler since in Bucharest there were not such high temperatures?

[Graham]

We all knew that. Orkney shows evidence of a once warmer climate to live in.

[Graham]

Bye bye global warming scam.

It's only a scam to say it was all man made.. You get both natural global warming & man made.

We shouldnt worry as much about sea levels & melting ice with Archimedes' Principle too.

Renewables are much more pleasant though.

[evon]

We know that during the 12-1300's it became colder, so i would expect around 700-1000's to have been the peak in European warmth, which explains the colonization of Norse people, especially on Greenland, which they abandoned due to colder climate and hence failed crops in the 1200's.

[Albion]

How did the Romans grow grapes in northern England? Perhaps because it was warmer than we thought.

A study suggests the Britain of 2,000 years ago experienced a lengthy period of hotter summers than today.
German researchers used data from tree rings – a key indicator of past climate – to claim the world has been on a ‘long-term cooling trend’ for two millennia until the global warming of the twentieth century.

This cooling was punctuated by a couple of warm spells.

Yes, this is true but it has long been understood. People seem to think of it as novel to have grapes growing in England but it isn't so unusual once you understand the history.

A good climate history website

Warm and cold periods happen more regularly than modern environmentalists like to admit (most probably don't even know).
There's also been much colder periods such as the Little Ice Age. Grapes were grown in England from the Roman period and possibly before but weren't as common in the dark ages until the Normans revived viticulture here. Then throughout the middle ages we had quite a few vineyards, many supplying churches with cheap communion wine whilst the rich imported better stuff from Bordeaux, Madeira and Burgundy. The trade connections with Madeira are particularly old because of that whilst the English fought particularly hard to hold onto Bordeaux.

Then the Little Ice Age came along and made grape growing a lot harder in England which was already at the margins of wine production. The grape-growing area was reduced mainly to Kent and in the end it was French competition and Phylloxera that finished it off in the 19th century.

But Europe recovered from the Little Ice Age and a solution to Phylloxera was found (grafting onto resistant rootstocks of other grape species).
Viticulture finally returned to England in the 1930s with privately-funded research stations and pioneer vineyards. All the old English grape varieties have been lost except one (Wrotham Pinot, a sport of Pinot Noir found growing in Kent - it is over 200 years old and cold-adapted) and today the varieties used are hardier French (particularly Alsatian) and German varieties as well as hybrids.



There are also some weird facts in viticulture too:

• The rootstocks used in viticulture today are from the grape species that originally brought the devastating Phylloxera to Europe. These American species have evolved alongside it whereas the European ones haven't and haven't had long to adapt so far. Phylloxera kills vines by killing their roots but the disease is largely absent from England (apart from one contained case) and Chile. It is important to note that the European vines will not adapt to it because cultivated varieties are all clones. Any wild grape vines in the woods aren't very likely to replace the current varieties and grafting with their rootstocks would likely achieve the same effect as grafting with the American rootstocks so would be pointless.
• During the Great French Wine Blight many of the European varieties went extinct in Europe but were found again - growing in Chile. Their vineyards are free from the disease and it is from there that many European varieties were recovered.
• Champagne was partially invented by an Englishman but only wine from the Champagne region of France are allowed to use that name - everyone else has to call theirs 'sparkling wine'. The process was invented in England and became very popular in the Champagne region and so France acted early to protect the name in international law.
• Unlike in France though where wine was drunk by aristocrats and peasants alike, in England it seems that other types of beverage such as cider and perry were much more common amongst the poor. Perhaps because apples are hardier and less demanding than grapes.
• Perry (Pear Cider) making could have been introduced by the Romans (wild pears in Southern England themselves are descendants of ones imported by farmers in the Neolithic).
• Cider making likely began in North West Spain (Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, Basque Country) and spread to NW France (particularly Normandy and Brittany) and then was introduced to England and Wales with the Normans. Certainly these regions are much more noted for their cider and perry than their wines today.

Southern England has quite a decent climate for viticulture. Grape vines often bring out their best flavours at their limits because the grapes ripen slower. Much of Southern England has similar geology to the Champagne region.
The hybrid and American species do well here too but they're not as good for wine but are much hardier than European varieties and more resistant to disease. Hardier strains are being developed all the time and viticulture is creeping north - even the Danes have a few vineyards.
An old grape vine can be seen at Hampton Court called the 'great vine' - it was planted in the 1700s and is a Black Hamburg.

England produces quite a few very good wines (Denbies win quite a few awards) but most vineyards are small and produce mediocre-quality wine. I doubt we'll ever match France unless our climate warms drastically, but I think we could produce a lot of cheaper wines for the domestic market and sell surplus grapes to supermarkets. It would help if there was favourable tax regimes for British producers, but at the moment they pay the same taxes as foreign producers.
At the moment England is amongst the greatest importers of wine in the world despite us not drinking quite as much as our continental neighbours. I think there's a good market for English wine here alongside cider and perry.

[Pretan]

It's only a scam to say it was all man made.. You get both natural global warming & man made.

We shouldnt worry as much about sea levels & melting ice with Archimedes' Principle too.

Renewables are much more pleasant though.

Off-shore wind turbines have ruined the sight of the Lincolnshire Coast. Half of the time they don't even move due to the wind being too strong.

Give me Nuclear Power anyday, its far cheaper, far more reliable, doesn't increase the bill for the consumer as much and doesn't need subsidising to make it usable.

[Graham]

Off-shore wind turbines have ruined the sight of the Lincolnshire Coast. Half of the time they don't even move due to the wind being too strong.

Give me Nuclear Power anyday, its far cheaper, far more reliable, doesn't increase the bill for the consumer as much and doesn't need subsidising to make it usable.

It's gonna coast billions to install those new nuclear facilties in England & Wales.

If you want those plants, fair play. Stick them in Lincolnshire and I'll have my turbines in West Lothian.

[Apina]

Always knew this global-warming crap was bs