Title: Damaging hydrological events during the exiting of the Little Ice Age in a highland area of Southern Italy

Authors: Nazzareno Diodato; Giuseppe Santoni; Andrea Cevasco; Francesco Fiorillo; Gianni Bellocchi

Addresses: Met European Research Observatory, via Monte Pino snc 82100 Benevento, Italy ' Met European Research Observatory, via Monte Pino snc 82100 Benevento, Italy ' Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy ' Department of Science and Technology, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy ' Met European Research Observatory, via Monte Pino snc 82100 Benevento, Italy; Grassland Ecosystem Research Unit, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, 5 chemin de Beaulieu, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France

Abstract: Historical documentary sources reflect a myriad of social, cultural, political, and scientific narratives about weather, climate and hydrological effectiveness. Their use in climate research provides an important contribution to current debates about climate and related damaging hydrological events. In Europe, the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1840-1920) was characterized by an unusual mixture of storms, floods and landslides. They have marked profoundly the regional landscape of the highlands of the Tammaro area (Campano Apennines, Southern Italy). In this way, we found that episodes of climate variability and its extremes have often disrupted ecosystems during stormy wintertimes (September-March) by injuring plant development phases, and causing sometimes disruption, while also creating new interactions with the agricultural and social environment. The results indicated that the end of the 19th century was the stormiest period of the series 1800-2000, in conjunction with landscape deforestation started in 1850.

Keywords: climate variability; deforestation; documentary sources; extreme precipitation events; floods; hydrological hazards; landslides; Tammaro basin; Southern Italy; storms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHST.2021.113107

International Journal of Hydrology Science and Technology, 2021 Vol.11 No.2, pp.136 - 165

Accepted: 25 Apr 2019
Published online: 19 Feb 2021 *

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