Stained Glass and Climate Change: How are they Connected?

As expressions of regional architecture, sacred (Christian) Gothic structures often possess several adaptations to their prevailing climate regime. The late medieval (Gothic) period in northern Europe is also, according to the evidence presented here, marked by a transition from warm and sunny to cooler and cloudier conditions. It is within the context of this climate change that we consider one of the most important features in Gothic churches—interior daylighting—during the transitional period (the thirteenth to the end of the fifteenth centuries) between the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). This paper seeks to determine whether increasingly cloudy conditions over northern continental Europe, in part due to a shift in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phase, may have influenced the use of more white glass in the fourteenth century. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time an extensive daylighting dataset has been collected in medieval sacred interiors. From an analysis of these illuminance and luminance data collected in European churches and cathedrals, we find that high-translucency glazing is associated with limited lighting gains compared to full-colour programs under sunny conditions but substantial lighting improvements (up to an order of magnitude) for cloudy conditions. Additionally, we find that backlighting from direct sunlight produces significant obscuration of some of the iconographical glass when interiors are dominated by high-translucency glazing, further suggesting that these interiors are not ideal for sunny conditions.

[Traduit par la rédaction] Étant donné que les cathédrales gothiques (chrétiennes) sont des expressions de l'architecture régionale, plusieurs adaptations au climat de l’époque y ont souvent été apportées. À la fin du Moyen Âge (période du gothique), le climat chaud et ensoleillé en Europe du nord continentale a fait place à un climat plus froid et plus nuageux, d'après les preuves que nous présentons ici. C'est donc dans la perspective de ce changement climatique que nous nous penchons sur l'un des éléments les plus importants de l'architecture des églises gothique, l’éclairage naturel intérieur, durant la transition (du XIII^e siècle à la fin du XV^e siècle) entre la période chaude médiévale (MWP) et le petit âge glaciaire (LIA). Dans le présent article, nous voulons notamment évaluer si l'utilisation de plus en plus fréquente du vitrail blanc au XIV^e siècle s'expliquerait par les conditions plus nuageuses en Europe du nord continentale, attribuables en partie à un changement dans l'indice d‘oscillation nord-atlantique (NAO). À notre connaissance, c'est la première fois qu'une série élaborée de données a été recueillie sur l’éclairage à l'intérieur des cathédrales gothiques. L'analyse des données sur l’éclairement lumineux et la luminance lumineuse dans les églises et les cathédrales d'Europe nous permet de constater que le verre très translucide présente peu d'avantages comparativement au verre plein coloré dans des conditions ensoleillées, mais qu'il améliore considérablement l’éclairage dans des conditions nuageuses (jusqu’à 10 fois). De plus, nous constatons que l’éclairage en contre-jour produit par l'ensoleillement direct obscurcit une partie des pièces de verre ornées d'icônes lorsque le verre très translucide domine à l'intérieur, ce qui confirme une fois de plus qu'il ne s'agit pas d'un aménagement idéal pour les conditions ensoleillées.     

Multi-scale analysis on last millennium climate variations in Greenland by its ice core oxygen isotope

The empirical mode decomposition method is used for analyzing the paleoclimate proxy δ18O from Greenland GISP2 ice core.The results show that millennium climate change trends in Greenland record the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) from 860AD-1350AD lasting for about 490 years,and the Little Ice Age (LIA) from 1350AD-1920AD lasting about 570 years.During these events,sub cooling-warming variations occurred.Its multi-scale oscillations changed with quasi-period of 3-year,6.5-year,12-year,24-year,49-year,96-year,213-year and 468-year,and are not only affected by ENSO but also by solar activity.The oscillation of intrinsic mode function IMF7,IMF8 and their tendency obviously appear in 1350AD which is considered as the key stage of transformation between MWP and LIA.The results give more detailed changes and their stages of millennium climate change in high latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere.     

格陵兰冰芯氧同位素显示近千年气候变化的多尺度分析

用经验模态分解(EMD)方法对格陵兰冰盖GISP2冰芯古气候代用指标δ~ (18) O 序列进行分解, 结果表明: 格陵兰近10 ka来气候变化总趋势出现历时约490 a的中世纪暖期和历时约570 a的小冰期, 其间还存在次级的冷暖期变化;气候波动具有3 a、 6.5 a、 12 a、 24 a、 49 a、 96 a、 213 a、 468 a准周期, 既有NESO的因素, 也受制于太阳活动周期的影响. 第7, 第8内在模函数(IMF7, IMF8)波动振幅以及总体趋势分量res在1350A.D.出现明显的转型, 表明1350A.D.为中世纪暖期和小冰期的分界.     

Fluid Borders: Rethinking Historical Geography and Fixed Map Boundaries in Contested Regions

This article introduces a quantitative methodology for analyzing contested map borders. The article applies the new analytical technique to a data set of thirty maps showing Bulgaria in ca. 800 CE, a disputed state and period in medieval historiography with relevance to modern national politics and territorial claims. Based on the data set, we generate a series of new maps that make explicit the fluid medieval boundaries and general disagreement among geographers and historiographers. Our analysis begins with a simple point-in-polygon procedure to create a majority map that depicts the points included within the borders of the Bulgarian polity in sixteen or more of the maps (>50 percent). The majority map is then combined with percentage maps, confidence interval map boundaries, and cluster maps. The confidence interval maps are created via a spatial bootstrapping procedure and measure the uncertainty in the majority map. The cluster maps are developed via a radial basis function and provide insight into the potential affectivity based on the cartographers' countries of origin. The final map reflects the general modern consensus of the borders of the Bulgarian polity around 800 CE. Besides its quantitative contribution to medieval and modern cartographic, historiographical, and political debates, this article has developed a widely applicable methodology for synthesizing map borders and territories in cases of cartographic disagreement.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Women, Work, and Ideology in the Third World . Haleh Afshar, ed. The Birth of the National Park Service. The Founding Years 1913–33 . Horace M. Albright Theatres of Accumulation: Studies in Asian and Latin American Urbanization . Warwick Armstrong and T.G. McGee. New Tools for Social Scientists, Advances and Applications in Research Methods . William D. Berry and Michael S. Lewis -Beck , eds . Uncertain Dimensions: Western Overseas Empires in the Twentieth Century . Raymond F. Betts. Geography of Sugar Cane . Helmut Blume. The Mines of Neptune: Minerals and Metals from the Sea . Elisabeth Mann Borgese. Geographical Dimensions of Energy . F.J. Calzonetti and B.D. Solomon, eds. Statistical Methods for Geographers . W. A. V. Clark and P. L. Hosking. In The Wake of Columbus, Islands and Controversy . John DeVorsey, Jr., and John Parker, eds. Housing, States and Localities . Peter Dickens, Simon Duncan, Mark Goodwin and Fred Gray. Physician Location and Specialty Choice . Richard L. Ernst and Donald E. Yett. Practical Ecology for Geography and Biology: Survey, Mapping, and Data Analysis . D.D. Gilbertson , M. Kent and F.B. Pyatt Large Scale Water Transfers: Emerging Environmental and Social Experiences . Genady N. Golubev and Asit K. Biswas, eds. The Nature of the Environment . Andrew Goudie. Planning for Population Change . W.T.S. Gould and R. Lawton. The Niger and its Neighbors: Environmental History and Hydrobiology. Human Use and Health Hazards of the Major West African Rivers . A.T. Grove, ed. Remote Sensing of Ice and Snow . Dorothy K. Hall and Jaroslav Martinec. Atlas of Antebellum Southern Agriculture . Sam Bowers Hilliard. Galilee Divided; The Israel-Lebanon Frontier, 1916-1984 . Frederic C. Hor . Plains Country Towns . John C. Hudson. Agricultural Geography: A Social and Economic Analysis . Brian W. Ilbery. Industry in the 1980s: Structural Change and Interdependence . U.N. Industrial Development Organization. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States . Kenneth T. Jackson. The Industrial Geography of Italy . Russell King. Studies in Linguistic Geography: The Dialects of English in Britain and Ireland . John M. Kirk, Stewart Sanderson, J.D.A. Widdowson, eds. Tourism: A Community Approach . Peter E. Murphy. Cities and Services: The Geography of Collective Consumption . Steven Pinch. An Historical Geography of Europe 1800–1914 . Norman J. G. Pounds. An Introduction to Human Ecology Research on Agricultural Systems in Southeast Asia . A. Terry Rambo and Percy E. Sajise, eds. Discovering Past Landscapes . Michael Reed, ed. Managing the Ocean: Resources, Research, Law . Jacques G. Richardson, ed. Carta fitosociologica de la transecta botanica de la Patagonia Austral . F.A. Roig , Juan Anchorema , Orlando Dollenz , A.M. Faggi and Eduardo Mandez Intermetropolitan Migration in Canada: Changing Determinants over Three Decades . R. Paul Shaw. Chinese Cities—The Growth of the Metropolis since 1949 . Victor F. Sit, ed. Urbanization in the World-Economy . Michael Timberlake, ed. The Al Business: Commercial Uses of Artificial Intelligence . Patrick H. Winston and Karen A. Prendergast, eds.     

First historical evidence of a significant Mt. Etna eruption in 1224

The 1224 Mt. Etna eruption is a significant event both in terms of the mass of erupted materials and because it involved the lower eastern slope of the volcano, reaching down to the sea. Nevertheless, it is unknown to current historical catalogues. According to the historical sources, only two other lava flows actually reached as far as the sea: in 396 BC, just north of the present-day inhabited area of Acireale, according to the geological data alone, and in 1669, when the lava covered the south-eastern flank of Mt. Etna and damaged Catania. We present and discuss the two medieval sources that attest to the eruption of 1224 and make available the original texts. Furthermore, through the close analysis of the historical and topographic context of the Etna area, taking account of the roads and ports in the early 13th century, we have tried to single out the possible area of the lava's outlet into the sea in 1224 on historical grounds. A repeat of an eruption similar to that of 1224 would have a serious impact today as the coast is densely populated.     

我国过去千年地表温度序列的初步重建

通过对器测温度资料与代用温度资料的研究,对中国过去1 000年的地表温度序列进行了初步重建.重建主要以树轮年表资料为基础,采用不同方法分别合成具有年分辨率的400年与1 000年西部温度序列,以及具有10年分辨率的400年全国温度序列和具有30年分辨率的1 000年全国温度序列.全国温度重建结果表明,中国在1000～1310年间表现出了与欧洲中世纪暖期相对应的温暖阶段,但该暖期在中国西部地区反映得并不明显;而14到19世纪的小冰期则在所有序列中均有显著表现;19世纪中期至上世纪80年代升温显著,但并未超过中世纪暖期水平.作者也讨论了重建序列的不确定性,以及重建序列与前人研究结果的异同.     

Marine flooding in the Thames Estuary and tidal river c.1250–1450: impact and response

Marine flooding, particularly that associated with North Sea storm surges, has posed a recurrent threat to human use of the Thames Estuary and its shorelines. During the later Middle Ages a growing frequency of surges placed increasing burdens upon the resources of coastal communities. This is reflected in expenditure upon sea-walls and related defences and in the frequent issuing of commissions of sewers, the mechanism by which the Crown intervened in matters of flood prevention and drainage. In the era of labour shortages initiated by the Black Death of 1349, the defence of some reclaimed marshlands around the Estuary and tidal river was abandoned in a precursor of managed retreat or realignment.     

中国气温变化研究最新进展

总结了"十五"攻关课题有关中国温度变化研究的若干进展.在资料质量控制和序列非均一性检验及订正的基础上,更新了中国地面近50年、100年和1 000年气温序列.研究表明,不论是近54年还是近100年全国年平均地面气温升高趋势一般比原来分析结果表明的要强,分别达到0.25℃/10 a和0.08℃/10 a.中国现代增暖最明显的地区包括东北、华北、西北和青藏高原北部,最显著的季节在冬季和春季.近50多年中国近地面气候变暖主要是平均最低气温明显上升的结果,全国范围内极端最低气温也显著升高,而极端最高气温升高不多.中国与温度相关的极端气候事件强度和频率一般呈降低趋势或稳定态势.研究发现,城市化因素对中国地面平均气温记录具有显著影响,但在现有的全国和区域平均温度变化分析中一般没有考虑,因此需要在将来的研究中给予密切关注.在增温明显的华北地区,1961～2000年间城市化引起的年平均气温增加值达到0.44℃,占全部增温的38%,城市化引起的增温速率为0.11℃/10 a.中国其他地区的增温趋势中也或多或少反映出增强的城市热岛效应影响.20世纪60年代初以来中国对流层中下层温度变化趋势不明显,仅为0.05℃/10 a,比地面气温变化小一个量级;对流层上层和平流层底层年平均温度呈明显下降趋势,变化速率分别为-0.17℃/10 a和-0.22℃/10 a;整个对流层平均温度呈微弱下降趋势.中国对流层温度与地面气温变化趋势存在明显的差异,但这种差异在20世纪80年代初以后趋于减小.近千年来中国地面气温变化史上可能确存在"中世纪温暖期"和"小冰期"等特征性气候阶段,但"中世纪温暖期"的温暖程度似乎没有过去认为的那样明显.从全国范围看,11世纪末和13世纪中的温暖程度可能均超过了20世纪30～40年代暖期,表明20世纪的增暖可能并非史无前例.中国20世纪气候增暖的原因目前还不能给出明确回答.一些迹象表明,人类活动可能已经对中国的地面气温变化产生了影响,但太阳活动及气候系统内部的低频振动对现代气候变暖可能也具有重要影响.