Tree Story

Palaeoclimatologist Valerie Trouet explores the connection between the codes contained in tree rings and the wide-ranging effects of climate change.

Shifts in the global climate have happened over millennia, leaving several clues behind. Some are written in trees. Counting a tree’s rings will tell how old a tree is, but studying them can provide snapshots of past climate conditions. At the University of Arizona, palaeoclimatologist Valerie Trouet learns about the ancient climate on the Earth and its influences on human civilization by studying tree rings. In her book “Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings”, she takes us out into the field, from remote African villages to radioactive Russian forests, inside the lab, and weaves together science and adventure to reconstruct stories of volcanos, hurricanes and wildfires from trees’ scars. The illustrations by Oliver Uberti, former senior designer editor for National Geographic, turn the book into a keepsake.