{"id":353745,"date":"2024-12-10T07:32:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T06:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=353745"},"modified":"2024-12-10T07:32:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T06:32:04","slug":"new-study-over-the-last-8000-years-centennial-scale-megadrought-periods-were-driven-by-cooling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=353745","title":{"rendered":"New Study: Over The Last 8000 Years Centennial-Scale Megadrought Periods Were Driven by Cooling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"482\" data-attachment-id=\"353749\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=353749\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1024,682\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024&amp;#215;682\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?fit=723%2C482&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?resize=723%2C482&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-353749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/notrickszone.com\/2024\/12\/09\/new-study-over-the-last-8000-years-centennial-scale-megadrought-periods-were-driven-by-cooling\/\">NoTrickZone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/notrickszone.com\/author\/kenneth-richard\/\">Kenneth Richard<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Paleoclimate evidence affirms warmth reduces drought frequency and intensity.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0277379124002452\">new study<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;utilizes Asian tree pollen records to affirm that for the last 8000 years centennial-scale warming periods were associated with reductions in drought, famines, crop failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201c\u2026warm periods were associated with increased precipitation along with relatively short-lived drought events.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In contrast, centuries of cooling (e.g., the Little Ice Age) induced \u201cextreme drought conditions,\u201d or megadrought, and thus widespread ecological hardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201c\u2026a cooling trend in the Northern Hemisphere may result in persistent extreme drought conditions in arid tropical regions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since warming is associated with more rainfall, and cooling induces drought, it is interesting that the modern trends are the opposite of what would be anticipated with a warming climate. Despite lower CO2 levels in the first half of the 20th century there was more precipitation (warmer) from 1900-1960s and less precipitation (cooling) from the 1970s to 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201c\u2026relatively high annual precipitation before 1970 which was linked to relatively high tree pollen percentages. However, from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, both the tree pollen percentages and annual precipitation decreased\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors conclude that there should not be an emphasis on the dangers of global warming, but, considering the environmental consequences, \u201cit is also important to address the potential hazards associated with cooling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"854\" data-attachment-id=\"353747\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=353747\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024.jpg?fit=816%2C964&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"816,964\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024.jpg?fit=723%2C854&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024.jpg?resize=723%2C854&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-353747\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024.jpg?w=816&amp;ssl=1 816w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024.jpg?resize=254%2C300&amp;ssl=1 254w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0Cooling-induced-Holocene-droughts-suggest-late-20th-century-Asian-cooling-Li-2024.jpg?resize=768%2C907&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Image Source:\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0277379124002452\">Li et al., 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paleoclimate evidence affirms warmth reduces drought frequency and intensity.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0new study\u00a0utilizes Asian tree pollen records to affirm that for the last 8000 years centennial-scale warming periods were associated with reductions in drought, famines, crop failures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":353749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691823273,691831881,691831882,691822914,691831880],"class_list":["post-353745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cooling","tag-droughts-and-cooling","tag-last-8000-years","tag-paleoclimate","tag-six-drought-events","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/0drought-in-the-dry-zone-1582193610-1024x682-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1u1z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":440550,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440550","url_meta":{"origin":353745,"position":0},"title":"No External Shock Required: Internal Variability Drove Classic Maya Megadroughts","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/20\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A major new climate modeling study published in Quaternary Science Reviews (2026) delivers a powerful reminder: Earth's climate system is perfectly capable of generating severe, multi-decadal megadroughts through its own internal variability\u2014without any external \u201cshock\u201d from volcanoes, solar minima, or human greenhouse gases.","rel":"","context":"In \"Classic Maya period (roughly 800\u20131000 CE)\"","block_context":{"text":"Classic Maya period (roughly 800\u20131000 CE)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=classic-maya-period-roughly-800-1000-ce"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-No-External-Shock-Required-Internal-Variability-Drove-Classic-Maya-Megadroughts.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":415684,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=415684","url_meta":{"origin":353745,"position":1},"title":"\u00a0More Evidence NE China Is Not Cooperating with the Alarmist Global Warming Narrative","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In a\u00a0new study, scientists have determined that northeastern China\u2019s droughts were far more frequent and intense during the Little Ice Age (LIA) than in the 1950-2021 era of supposedly \u201calarming\u201d global warming. During the LIA, which the study clarifies as spanning from 1568 to 1850, there were 59 extreme dry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"China\"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=china"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-02-103034.png?fit=1200%2C645&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-02-103034.png?fit=1200%2C645&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-02-103034.png?fit=1200%2C645&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-02-103034.png?fit=1200%2C645&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/00Screenshot-2025-12-02-103034.png?fit=1200%2C645&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":443869,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=443869","url_meta":{"origin":353745,"position":2},"title":"New Paleo Research: Modern \u2018Climate Change\u2019 Has Had No Apparent Impact On Precipitation Patterns","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/12\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Three new tree ring reconstructions (spanning 1320-2021, 1720-2014, and 1657-2020 CE) document the dominance of natural variability in the paleoclimate record.","rel":"","context":"In \"Central Greece and the Balkan Peninsula\"","block_context":{"text":"Central Greece and the Balkan Peninsula","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=central-greece-and-the-balkan-peninsula"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0ChatGPT-Modern-%E2%80%98Climate-Change-Has-Had-No-Apparent-Impact-On-Precipitation-Patterns.png?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0ChatGPT-Modern-%E2%80%98Climate-Change-Has-Had-No-Apparent-Impact-On-Precipitation-Patterns.png?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0ChatGPT-Modern-%E2%80%98Climate-Change-Has-Had-No-Apparent-Impact-On-Precipitation-Patterns.png?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0ChatGPT-Modern-%E2%80%98Climate-Change-Has-Had-No-Apparent-Impact-On-Precipitation-Patterns.png?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0ChatGPT-Modern-%E2%80%98Climate-Change-Has-Had-No-Apparent-Impact-On-Precipitation-Patterns.png?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":245492,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=245492","url_meta":{"origin":353745,"position":3},"title":"Climate signals from ancient ice and wood\u00a0","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/25\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We looked at some of this recently,\u00a0here\u00a0and\u00a0here. Of course the problem nowadays is that weather news is liable to be subjected to the melodrama treatment by climate obsessives. Re. the European droughts, there\u2019s also the evidence of the\u00a0\u201ahunger stones\u2018, for example.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-772.png?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-772.png?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-772.png?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-772.png?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":244741,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=244741","url_meta":{"origin":353745,"position":4},"title":"Random Probability Analysis Of Global Drought Data Affirm No Pattern Can Be Linked To Human Activity","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/21\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cNo evidence is found for any systematic trend in precipitation deficits attributable to anthropogenic climate change.\u201d \u2013 O\u2019Connell et al., 2022","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-563.png?fit=1200%2C649&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-563.png?fit=1200%2C649&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-563.png?fit=1200%2C649&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-563.png?fit=1200%2C649&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-563.png?fit=1200%2C649&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":244385,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=244385","url_meta":{"origin":353745,"position":5},"title":"European summer droughts since 2015 \u201amost severe in centuries\u2018, but multi-year droughts also happened in the past","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/19\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Mixed messages from climate research here. In between evidence-free waffle about \u2018potential\u2019 human influence, they report that severe drought spells are nothing new in Europe, implying climate cycles of some sort. This means attribution of such drought to human causes is debatable, as the article admits.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-457.png?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-457.png?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-457.png?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-457.png?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-457.png?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353745"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353751,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353745\/revisions\/353751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/353749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}