Groundbreaking Arctic research involving a UWr scientist
An article entitled “500-year paleoclimate record inferred from Greenland juniper wood contextualizes current climate warming” has been published in the journal Nature Communications (IF = 15.7; 200 points on the Polish Ministry ranking list). One of its co-authors is prof dr hab. Piotr Owczarek from the Department of Physical Geography at the University of Wrocław.
The article presents a 500-year climate record with annual resolution, reconstructed from measurements of annual growth-ring widths of Greenland juniper, covering the period 1526–2023 CE. This is the longest dendrochronological scale constructed for Greenland to date and one of the longest in the entire Arctic.
The research was conducted by an international research team led by dr hab. prof. UŚ Magdalena Opała-Owczarek (University of Silesia in Katowice). Variability in ring width was correlated with summer temperatures, and anatomical anomalies in the wood associated with cold years were identified. For the first time in Greenland and in the entire Arctic a dendrochronological record of volcanic eruptions was identified, including those of Laki (1783) and Tambora (1815). The innovative nature of the research also lies in the use not only of living juniper shrubs, but above all of dry and historical wood deposited by participants of early Arctic expeditions in herbaria and museums.
Date of publication: 7.01.2026
Added by: M.J.
