ABSTRACT
This chapter presents general information on climate reconstructions and introduces weather and climate estimates. It aims to define the term anomaly, sets out proxy and historical source environmental signatures and examines the main chronology and dating methods. The chapter provides examples from the most commonly used proxies leading to reconstruct climate changes with annual to multidecadal temporal resolution. It outlines a portrait of climatic changes, taking into consideration regional and seasonal disparities, long-term climate anomalies, or weather-related extreme events from historical sources. Climate variations are generally described in terms of anomalies versus a given reference interval. Each proxy bears a signature of a given climate and environment. Climate tracers and proxies may offer a seasonal or a yearly temporal resolution. Dendroclimatology is the study of annual growth of trees and their relationship with the climate. Lakes and wetlands may provide good archives of local to regional climate conditions.
