CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Beaudoin, A.B.
Date : 2003.
Title : Climate and landscape of the last 2000 years in Alberta.
Publication : Archaeology in Alberta: A View from the New Millennium. Edited by J.W. Brink and J.F. Dormaar. Archaeological Society of Alberta, Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Issue :
Page(s) : 10-45.
Abstract
The last two thousand years (2 ka) of climate and landscape history in Alberta represent only the latest chapter in a long and complex story. Abundant data are available for this interval, compared to the more distant past. These data include documentary sources, instrumental records, and proxy information derived from the landscape and biotic material, such as tree-rings, that preserve a climate signal. Although the completeness and resolution of these data vary, enough information is available to yield a relatively detailed reconstruction. Overall, the last 2 ka form the latter part of a long interval of cooling and probably moistening climate which culminated in the glacier advances of recent centuries, marking the Little Ice Age. Conditions have not been uniform, however, because the interval has included warmer episodes and droughts. People would have had to cope with short-term climate variability, which affected all aspects of life and landscape, including water availability and quality, forest fire occurrence, and soil erosion. Just as at present, spatial and temporal variability are the hallmarks of Alberta's climate over the last two thousand years.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology