Warming trend during Medieval Climate Anomaly in Tropical Maritim Indonesia: Records from Porites Corals

Abstract

Abstract A period that lasted from 900-1300 AD has been known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly. This period has been indicated as the warming period of the earth’s temperature. However, this warming phenomenon is still the subject of debate today, whether global or regional warming. Several studies concluded that the Medieval warm period is a global phenomenon and an important warm period, although external forcing is mainly similar to the present day. Several climate archives from Indonesia i.e. lake sediment, marine sediment and speleothem show a warming trend during this period. In this study, the seasonal warming trend during the Medieval climate is resolved from Porites coral from Lampung Bay, Indonesia. However, the seasonal temperature magnitude during the Medieval period is lower than today. This study confirms the coral medieval climate records from Mentawai islands. The result suggests that a warming trend occurred in Indonesia during the Medieval climate anomaly.