A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates

In 2003, Europe was affected by a record-breaking heatwave in summer, which is statistically extremely unlikely. However, there are indications that comparably anomalous warm summers might have occurred in the more distant historical past, for instance in 1540. Dates of grape harvesting in Western E...

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Main Author: Annette Menzel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Borntraeger 2005-03-01
Series:Meteorologische Zeitschrift
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2005/0014-0075
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author Annette Menzel
author_facet Annette Menzel
author_sort Annette Menzel
collection DOAJ
description In 2003, Europe was affected by a record-breaking heatwave in summer, which is statistically extremely unlikely. However, there are indications that comparably anomalous warm summers might have occurred in the more distant historical past, for instance in 1540. Dates of grape harvesting in Western Europe, starting in 1484, allow a concise assessment of growing season temperatures. The maturity of grapes strongly depends on growing season temperatures, and 84 % of the year-to-year variability is explained by April to August temperature. When reconstructing the growing season temperatures by these historical grape harvest dates, the heatwave of 2003 stands out as an extreme, not only for the instrumental period, but also during the preceding 500 years.
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spelling doaj.art-bc8ca36e1fb24959824cfe0d5898de3e2024-02-08T08:45:17ZengBorntraegerMeteorologische Zeitschrift0941-29482005-03-01141757710.1127/0941-2948/2005/0014-007554067A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest datesAnnette MenzelIn 2003, Europe was affected by a record-breaking heatwave in summer, which is statistically extremely unlikely. However, there are indications that comparably anomalous warm summers might have occurred in the more distant historical past, for instance in 1540. Dates of grape harvesting in Western Europe, starting in 1484, allow a concise assessment of growing season temperatures. The maturity of grapes strongly depends on growing season temperatures, and 84 % of the year-to-year variability is explained by April to August temperature. When reconstructing the growing season temperatures by these historical grape harvest dates, the heatwave of 2003 stands out as an extreme, not only for the instrumental period, but also during the preceding 500 years.http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2005/0014-0075
spellingShingle Annette Menzel
A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates
Meteorologische Zeitschrift
title A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates
title_full A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates
title_fullStr A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates
title_full_unstemmed A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates
title_short A 500 year pheno-climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in Europe assessed by grape harvest dates
title_sort 500 year pheno climatological view on the 2003 heatwave in europe assessed by grape harvest dates
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2005/0014-0075
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