A ~700 years perspective on the 21st century drying in the eastern part of Europe based on ?18O in tree ring cellulose

Abstract Numerical simulations indicate that extreme climate events (e.g., droughts, floods, heat waves) will increase in a warming world, putting enormous pressure on society and political decision-makers. To provide long-term perspective the variability of these events, here we use ~700 years tree-ring oxygen isotope chronology from Eastern Europe, combination with paleo-reanalysis data, to show summer drying over Europe observed last ~150 is best our knowledge unprecedented 700 years. This driven by change patterns characterized shift zonal wavier flow around 1850 CE , leading droughts aridification. knowledge, this first longest reconstruction drought variability, based stable isotopes cellulose, for helping fill gap spatial coverage paleoclimate reconstructions.