1200 years of warm-season temperature variability in central Scandinavia inferred from tree-ring density

Despite the emergence of new high-resolution temperature reconstructions around the world, only a few cover the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). Here we present C-Scan, a new Scots pine tree-ring density-based reconstruction of warm-season (April-September) temperatures for central Scandinavia back to 850aEuro-CE, extending the previous reconstruction by 250aEuro-years. C-Scan is based on samples collected in a confined mountain region, adjusted for their differences in altitude and local environment, and standardised using the new RSFi algorithm to preserve low-frequency signals. In C-Scan, the warm peak of MCA occurs ca. 1000-1100aEuro-CE, and the Little Ice Age (LIA) between 1550 and 1900aEuro-CE. Moreover, during the last millennium the coldest decades are found around 1600aEuro-CE, and the warmest 10 and 30aEuro-years occur in the most recent century. By comparing C-Scan with other millennium-long temperature reconstructions from Fennoscandia, regional differences in multi-decadal temperature variability, especially during the warm period of the last millennium are revealed. Although these differences could be due to methodological reasons, they may indicate asynchronous warming patterns across Fennoscandia. Further investigation of these regional differences and the reasons and mechanisms behind them are needed.