Internal Variability & External Forcing

My research uses high-resolution tree-ring proxies in combination with climate model simulations to characterize pre-industrial temperature variability and detect the fingerprint of external forcing, particularly volcanic eruptions.

Traditional tree-ring measurements are thought to overestimate low-frequency temperature variability at regional scales in the pre-industrial period, while climate models are thought to underestimate it. By using high-resolution quantitative wood anatomy measurements, my research aims to reduce uncertainty in reconstructed variability and improve proxy-model agreement. Resolving these differences has direct implications for detection and attribution studies, Arctic amplification research, and constraining equilibrium climate sensitivity estimates from the Common Era. I also investigate the climatic effects of large volcanic eruptions by comparing proxy-based and model-simulated responses to known external forcing, using the exceptionally well-documented 1783-1784 CE Laki eruption as a case study.