Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland
Changing climatic conditions is a perpetual circumstance for mankind. In this study, we investigate local environmental and climatic changes near Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland. Our reconstruction is based on a lake sediment core and methods include chemical proxies and a palynological analysis. The...
Published in: | The Holocene |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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SAGE Publications
2024
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Online Access: | https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b23b66e0-ecd8-4fff-b38d-7cae9961ba5f https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 |
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ftulundlup:oai:lup.lub.lu.se:b23b66e0-ecd8-4fff-b38d-7cae9961ba5f 2024-06-23T07:53:16+00:00 Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland Strunk, Astrid Krüger, Sascha Jensen, Jens Fog Olsen, Jesper Jessen, Catherine 2024 https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b23b66e0-ecd8-4fff-b38d-7cae9961ba5f https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 eng eng SAGE Publications https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b23b66e0-ecd8-4fff-b38d-7cae9961ba5f http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 scopus:85192546832 Holocene; (2024) ISSN: 0959-6836 Climate Research caribou hunting Inuit cultures multiproxy reconstruction paleoenvironment palynology West Greenland wildfires contributiontojournal/article info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2024 ftulundlup https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 2024-06-05T00:23:50Z Changing climatic conditions is a perpetual circumstance for mankind. In this study, we investigate local environmental and climatic changes near Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland. Our reconstruction is based on a lake sediment core and methods include chemical proxies and a palynological analysis. The investigated site is located 15 km from the Aasivissuit Inuit summer hunting ground, which has been in use for caribou hunting for more than 2000 years. The presented climatic reconstruction covers the time from c. 560 CE to present time. We identify three distinct periods of climate regimes: From c. 560–1100 CE conditions were stable, warm and humid, and summer temperatures were 1.5–2°C warmer than today. 1100–1600 was a period of cooler and very arid conditions with more sea ice, corresponding to the Neoglacial cooling. In this period, we detect two wildfire events and subsequent temporary caribou abandonment of the area. From 1600 to present we find increasingly warmer conditions with more precipitation and less extensive sea ice cover, gradually approaching today’s climate regime in Kangerlussuaq. We review the existing literature regarding the Aasivissuit summer hunting ground, which was first used concurrently with the detected cooling. Despite climatic deterioration, the hunting ground was regularly in use throughout the Neoglacial and onwards, with peak hunting intensity in the early 1700s. The detected wildfires and reindeer abandonment are interpreted to be localized events at the coring site and did not affect the hunting ground. Our findings highlight the resilience of the Inuit hunters to climatic changes as well as the advantages and limitations of local environmental reconstructions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland inuit Kangerlussuaq Sea ice Lund University Publications (LUP) Aasivissuit ENVELOPE(-50.550,-50.550,66.867,66.867) Greenland Kangerlussuaq ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) The Holocene |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Lund University Publications (LUP) |
op_collection_id |
ftulundlup |
language |
English |
topic |
Climate Research caribou hunting Inuit cultures multiproxy reconstruction paleoenvironment palynology West Greenland wildfires |
spellingShingle |
Climate Research caribou hunting Inuit cultures multiproxy reconstruction paleoenvironment palynology West Greenland wildfires Strunk, Astrid Krüger, Sascha Jensen, Jens Fog Olsen, Jesper Jessen, Catherine Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland |
topic_facet |
Climate Research caribou hunting Inuit cultures multiproxy reconstruction paleoenvironment palynology West Greenland wildfires |
description |
Changing climatic conditions is a perpetual circumstance for mankind. In this study, we investigate local environmental and climatic changes near Kangerlussuaq, west Greenland. Our reconstruction is based on a lake sediment core and methods include chemical proxies and a palynological analysis. The investigated site is located 15 km from the Aasivissuit Inuit summer hunting ground, which has been in use for caribou hunting for more than 2000 years. The presented climatic reconstruction covers the time from c. 560 CE to present time. We identify three distinct periods of climate regimes: From c. 560–1100 CE conditions were stable, warm and humid, and summer temperatures were 1.5–2°C warmer than today. 1100–1600 was a period of cooler and very arid conditions with more sea ice, corresponding to the Neoglacial cooling. In this period, we detect two wildfire events and subsequent temporary caribou abandonment of the area. From 1600 to present we find increasingly warmer conditions with more precipitation and less extensive sea ice cover, gradually approaching today’s climate regime in Kangerlussuaq. We review the existing literature regarding the Aasivissuit summer hunting ground, which was first used concurrently with the detected cooling. Despite climatic deterioration, the hunting ground was regularly in use throughout the Neoglacial and onwards, with peak hunting intensity in the early 1700s. The detected wildfires and reindeer abandonment are interpreted to be localized events at the coring site and did not affect the hunting ground. Our findings highlight the resilience of the Inuit hunters to climatic changes as well as the advantages and limitations of local environmental reconstructions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Strunk, Astrid Krüger, Sascha Jensen, Jens Fog Olsen, Jesper Jessen, Catherine |
author_facet |
Strunk, Astrid Krüger, Sascha Jensen, Jens Fog Olsen, Jesper Jessen, Catherine |
author_sort |
Strunk, Astrid |
title |
Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland |
title_short |
Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland |
title_full |
Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west Greenland |
title_sort |
two millennia of climate change, wildfires, and caribou hunting in west greenland |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b23b66e0-ecd8-4fff-b38d-7cae9961ba5f https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-50.550,-50.550,66.867,66.867) ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) |
geographic |
Aasivissuit Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
geographic_facet |
Aasivissuit Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
genre |
Greenland inuit Kangerlussuaq Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Greenland inuit Kangerlussuaq Sea ice |
op_source |
Holocene; (2024) ISSN: 0959-6836 |
op_relation |
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b23b66e0-ecd8-4fff-b38d-7cae9961ba5f http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 scopus:85192546832 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241247301 |
container_title |
The Holocene |
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1802644843120295936 |