PNAS - Tree-Ring Studies Show 2010 Wettest Year In Tibet In Past 3,500 Years
Dharamsala, Feb 16 (IANS) Recent decades have likely been the wettest on record in the semi-arid Tibetan plateau, researchers say, warning that any further large-scale warming might lead to even greater rainfall in Tibet, the birthplace for Asia's great rivers.
The wettest individual year reconstructed in 3,500 years in northeastern Tibet is 2010, say climate researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in an online paper in US academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It says precipitation during the past 50 years in the plateau has been historically high. The researchers have reconstructed precipitation records by using sub-fossil, archaeological and living juniper tree samples from the plateau. They reveal a trend towards wider growth rings on trees, implying moister growing conditions, with the last 50 years seeing increasing amounts of rainfall.
Tim Osborn from UEA's climatic research unit said: "Our collaboration with scientists from China has been very fruitful, leading to what is currently the longest tree-ring-width record in the cold and arid northeastern Tibetan plateau." "Not only is the record very long, it is based on samples from more than 1,000 trees, some of which have an individual lifespan of more than 2,000 years. These are among the longest-lived trees in the world," he said.
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