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    Hailstorms, Wacky Weather Chilled Ancient Baghdad

    By Stephanie Pappas | LiveScience.com – Sun, Feb 26, 2012

    Diaries and writings from ninth-century Baghdad provide a glimpse of the weird weather from the era, findings that could help researchers reconstruct past climate.

    The surviving documents were written by historians and scholars during the Islamic Golden Age between A.D. 816 and A.D. 1009. They provide a new human record of climate, joining old ship's logs and World War II air force reports as one of the few sources for detailed information on historical weather.

    "Climate information recovered from these ancient sources mainly refers to extreme events which impacted wider society, such as droughts and floods," study researcher Fernando Domínguez-Castro of the University of Extremadura in Spain said in a statement. "However, they also document conditions which were rarely experienced in ancient Baghdad such as hailstorms, the freezing of rivers or even cases of snow."

    Many of the writings from the Islamic Golden Age have been lost in wars and upheaval. But some works survive, including those of Sunni scholar al-Tabari (A.D. 913), Kurdish historian Ibn al-Athir (A.D. 1233) and Egyptian scholar al-Suyuti (A.D. 1505). [Top 10 Battles for Control of Iraq]

    Domínguez-Castro and his colleagues collected and analyzed these documents and found that they revealed a pattern of increasing frequency of cold-weather events in the early 10th century. July A.D. 920 was unusually cold, perhaps because of a volcanic eruption, Domínguez-Castro said. It snowed in Baghdad in 908, 944 and 1007. The only snow in living memory in the city was in 2008.

    The findings suggest that Iraq's climate was more prone to unusually chilly events than it is today.

    "Ancient Arabic documentary sources are a very useful tool for finding eye-witness descriptions which support the theories made by climate models," said Domínguez-Castro. "The ability to reconstruct past climates provides us with useful historical context for understanding our own climate."

    You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

     

    56 comments

    • ENDO-
      ENDO-  •  2 mths ago
      Oh golly, you mean the planet has always going been through warming and cooling cycles?
      Who knew..
      • Gene Goldring
        Gene Goldring 2 mths ago
        Of course it has. What is unusual today is the rate. Don't you read on a topic before you post?
      • ENDO-
        ENDO- 2 mths ago
        "the rate"... he he he.. you can't make this stuff up.. LMAO
    • lost boy
      lost boy  •  East Quogue, New York  •  2 mths ago
      "Climate information recovered from these ancient sources mainly refers to extreme events which impacted wider society, such as droughts and floods,"
      ...........And yet they claim: "Ancient Arabic documentary sources are a very useful tool for finding eye-witness descriptions which support the theories made by climate models," ....
      .....So they're quite happy to take what they admit are, 'extreme events' and use it for climate modeling, even though THEY admit, it's an incomplete picture.... Now that's science!
    • CB
      CB  •  2 mths ago
      And during the last 1200 years in UK there were both quality vineyards and ice skating on the Thames. Climate control is a really poor investment.
    • peter
      peter  •  2 mths ago
      “BREAKING NEWS ALERT”
      “From the Scientific Urinal: Globull Warming makes a no-show this winter.”
      The leading scientist and spokesman for the Globull Warming Enthusiast faction of the Gorest plot to destabilize world economies while reaping huge profits, Punxsutawney Phil, has stated that due to the lack of Globull Warming this past winter we will be enduring 6 more weeks of Global Cooling.
      When asked how he came to this conclusion, Mr. Phil sent out this ominous statement from his research lab at Gobbler’s Knob,

      “Only the shadow knows”.

      “BREAKING NEWS ALERT”
      “From the Scientific Urinal: Turmoil eurupts in the Globull Warming Camps”
      One day after the leading scientist and FORMER spokesman for the Globull Warming Enthusiast faction, Punxsutawney Phil, claimed that due to the lack of Globull Warming this past winter we will be enduring 6 more weeks of Global Cooling, all hell has broke out.
      When asked on Meet the Press about Mr. Phils accusations, his royal highness Al Gore had this to say,
      “There are *yawn* many models for predicting Globull *yawn* Warming and its effects. I, I mean, WE, at the Gorist Foundation *yawn* believe that ours is more exagerated and blown out of proportion than any other models therefor ours is the correct *yawn* interpretation of events affecting our planet *yawn* and my profits. Zzzzzzzzzzz”
      But a sign of a coming backlash came from the militant group, The Independant Bulber Brigade, who put out a statement that read,
      “You dirty , double crossing rat. we’re gonna fix you, see. thats right. you think you can just waltz in here and rat us out. No, see. We’re gonna fix you, you dirty rat and fix you right good, see”
      Mean while Punxsutawney Phil and his posse are keeping a low profile at his research lab at Gobbler’s Knob.

      “BREAKING NEWS ALERT”
      “From the Scientific Urinal: The seige of Gobbler’s Knob begins”
      3 days after the leading scientist on Globull Warming studies and FORMER spokesman for the Globull Warming Enthusiast faction, Punxsutawney Phil, alluded to Globull Warming as being a hoax and declaring 6 more weeks of Global Cooling, the Gorist militant group, Independant Bulber Brigade, has blockaded the lab at Gobbler’s Knob and completly sealed it and its inhabitants off from the outside world.
      Law Enforcement officials have been warned by the militant group to stear clear and no humanitarian relief has been allowed to enter the compound.
      No word yet of the fate of Punxsutawney Phil and his posse. Some leaders of the Globull Warming Gullibalist Branch of the Gorist Cult have said negotiations are underway. They are looking to defuse the situation with some sort of Galilaoian Pledge from Professor Phil.
      Earlier today president Obama waded into the fray With this comment at a new conference,
      “ah..I don’t know..ah..all the facts…but I must…Ah..reitterate…that I feel..ah…boths sides…ah…acted…..ah…stupididly.
      HAVING SAID THAT, he said he would welcome all concerned to a beer party at Camp David.
      On a side note the “Wide Stancers”, a group founded by former Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, issued a statement offering to provide bathroom security at the event.
      A Wide Stancers spokesperson refused to comment on the grounds that, and I quote “I am not gay nor have I ever been gay, so there”.
      BREAKING NEWS ALERT
      THIS JUST IN-
      The Negotiations for a conference at Camp David have just broken down with no agreement in sight.
      The offer from Al *yawn* Gore, leader of the Gorist Cult, to send in the Good Ship Lollipop has been refused due to objections from the Globull Warming Gullibalists contention that the Good Ship Lollipop would leave to large of a Carbon Foot Print.
      Others have suggested safe passage to Professor Phil and his posse if they were to take the Yellow Brick Road.
      So for now it looks like Their only way out of this may be to be-
      Off to see the wizard
      the wonderful wizard of OZ
      Because, Because, Because, Because,
      Because of the wonderful things he does.
    • Fed Up With Washington
      Fed Up With Washington  •  Yüregir, Turkey  •  2 mths ago
      Global warming?
    • B
      B  •  2 mths ago
      Blah, Blah, Blah... Global Cooling… Ice Age coming in 1970’s... Global Warming... Climate Change… All within ONLY 40 years. Are you kidding ME? More LEFT WING Zealot “Talking Heads” trying to force more taxation (wealth redistribution) on the free world wage EARNERS by liberal whack job (I don’t want to work so give me your money / I’m an academic so I know more than you) socialists / communists like that fat, obese, bloated, Anti-American windbag Al Gore... the planet has a temperature... GET REAL!
      • Gene Goldring
        Gene Goldring 2 mths ago
        Global cooling of the 70's wa nothing more than a few scientists discussing the possibility. When looked into they found that the opposite wa already under way. The media hyped the global cooling frenzy. Not science.

        You don't read much if it isn't produced on Fox News.
    • Jim in CA
      Jim in CA  •  2 mths ago
      Well, well, well. It looks like Buggrthat caught an error I made earlier. I read the article too quickly because I was in the middle of fixing dinner....it says AD and not BC. It seems I couldn't fix dinner, talk to my sons and blog at the same time. LOL I looked back at the climate cycles again and it appears that between 525 AD and 900 AD was a cold cycle. Hmmm....imagine that. Now back to Buggrthat...instead of realizing I may have made an honest mistake, I get called a lying piece of $%#@. I don't lie...I make mistakes from time to time...but I never lie. Buggrthat...sounds to me like you have some serious issues with paranoia. You really need to see someone...perhaps as early as tomorrow.
      • buggrthat
        buggrthat 2 mths ago
        Hey bozo, you started the insults. Perhaps if you checked yourself a little more often, you wouldn't post such bogus crap.
      • geniusandinsanitywalkdown ...
        geniusandinsanitywalkdown ... 2 mths ago
        The way we know global alarmists are liars is they expect us to believe that the world had a static climate (or slow changing) for 4.5 billion years (they are so dumb, they deny evolution since evolution was largely caused by the MANY MANY MANY natural occurrences of climatic changes).
        .
        Only a global alarmists is dumb enough to think that when a supervolcano goes off or a meteor impacts, that the climate changes slowly after such an eveent
      • SteveT
        SteveT 2 mths ago
        @buggarthat

        I reread Jim's comment several times and there were not insults to anyone in his post. Now gadfly did post insults. I think you need to learn to read things a little more carefully and perhaps learn to control your temper a little better before you start flinging insults at people.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  2 mths ago
      Climate is always changing; and always has been changing. Think about it. Surface climate is the result of the variablility of the Sun, the variablility of the earth's core, and whatever stuff a volcano happens to be blocking out the sun at the time. It's a complex variable system. Not a static one.
      • Jed
        Jed 2 mths ago
        right-on!
    • Jim in CA
      Jim in CA  •  2 mths ago
      For some reason, the article left out the following historical events in the middle east. In 829 AD the Nile river froze. In the winters of 800 AD and 801 AD, the Black Sea froze. It's also interesting to note that between 5000 BC and this particular cycle, some areas had a warm or cold cycle that didn't materialize in other areas. Also, depending on the latitude, the cycles were exactly opposite of each other. Following this cycle, the northern hemisphere seems to have fallen in sync. Now back to Buggrthat...I learned a long time ago that the person who never makes a mistake is the person who never does anything.
      • buggrthat
        buggrthat 2 mths ago
        However, this period in the story was right in the aledged global warming event known as the Mideval Warm Period.
      • geniusandinsanitywalkdown ...
        geniusandinsanitywalkdown ... 2 mths ago
        Jim, global alarmists feel the need to lie to you a lot (lies of ommission and lies of commission are needed to get you to believe in the mythology).
        .
        Global alarmists sound like bible thumpers who deny the existence of evolution (since evolution was caused largely by climate changes that have occurred repeatedly over 4.5 billion years of Earth's history).
      • gadfly05
        gadfly05 2 mths ago
        Buggerbrain has his lips locked onto Al Gore's sphincter. He thinks it's the food of the gods he's sucking in and recycling. Next he'll tell you how those few dozen insider IPCC scientists recently acknowledged by authorities at East Anglia University (AGW cabal central) as being the basis of that "vast majority approving AGW" claim make up something like 837% of all scientists.
    • PKM
      PKM  •  Los Angeles, California  •  2 mths ago
      too bad it didn't stay frozen
    • peter
      peter  •  2 mths ago
      Oh Lord. How does a Globull Warming Enthusiast sleep at night? Weather is whats happening today, climate is what happened today tomorrow.
    • Daniel
      Daniel  •  Fair Oaks, California  •  2 mths ago
      change is constant - statis is un-natural. why are we trying to keep everything the same. that is the key in most natural communities to specialization and extinction.
    • Smooth Criminal
      Smooth Criminal  •  2 mths ago
      They must have developed fossil-fueled rocks to stone their women; brave souls that they are...
    • michael
      michael  •  2 mths ago
      folks you can see the lies so from this story in the claim the world is warming. It snowed in 908, 944 and 1044 and wait wait wait, 2008 which confirms the eco freaks own data that the world stopped warming in 1997 even though they just forget to mention that little detail.
    • John
      John  •  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  •  2 mths ago
      Please tell me it will happen again to bagdaddy! This could be the best news I've had lately!
    • mike
      mike  •  2 mths ago
      IT snowed in 908, 944 and 1007
      IT snowed in 2008 Some Iraqis said such a thing had never happened. Others claimed snow came to Baghdad more then 40 years ago (A Cold Day in Hell: Snow in Baghdad TIME)
      "It is the first time we've seen snow in Baghdad," said 60-year-old Hassan Zahar "We've seen sleet before, but never snow. I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished,"(Snow falls on Baghdad for first time in memory Reuters)

      Just like the MWP it sleets or snows in Bahgdad every 40 - 100 years
    • jeff t
      jeff t  •  2 mths ago
      uh, hold on. were they driving cars too? i don't get it.
    • Ian
      Ian  •  2 mths ago
      Yup the unthinkable - -snowballs in Hell. I guess a nuclear winter in Tehran isn't out of the question.
    • Dan
      Dan  •  2 mths ago
      You mean global weather patterns change? Wow .. I never would have thought it ... Next someone is going to say this has been happening for MILLIONS of years ... and now we're in a warming trend ... I bet someday the warming will stop and a cooling trend will start. We (the human race) think we're so smart ... get over it ... we can't stop it ... go with the flow ...
    • richard
      richard  •  2 mths ago
      I am sure the scientists can twist this article around and blame it onto mankind.All this #$%$ about global warming is nothing more than a power bid by the elite to grab more control over the common population.
     Post a comment
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