Katelyn Jee
Aug 14, 20231 min
During the Medieval Era (500 - 1500 AD), temperatures started to rise due to increases in solar activity, naturally warming the Earth. This brief warming period fuels misconceptions by climate deniers that the Medieval Era was warmer than the current climate crisis. However, new research completely refutes this claim by comparing tree ring cells from the Medieval Era to those from the present.
Usually, tree rings grow thinner when exposed to colder and drier weather, whereas tree rings expand or grow wider when exposed to hotter, wetter temperatures. Researchers examined the tree ring cells from 118 Pinus sylvestris trees in Sweden and Finland to compare the difference in width from the Medieval Era to now. Ultimately, they found that the world is currently at the warmest it has been in the past 1,200 years, demonstrating that recent temperatures are rising at unprecedented rates and illustrating the impact of humans on the environment.
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