Although the effect of pollution on forest health and decline received much attention in the 1980s, it has not been considered to explain the 'Divergence Problem' in dendroclimatology; a decoupling of tree growth from rising air temperatures since the 1970s. Here we use physical and biogeochemical measurements of hundreds of living and dead conifers to reconstruct the impact of heavy industrialisation around Norilsk in northern Siberia. Moreover, we develop a forward model with surface irradiance forcing to quantify long-distance effects of anthropogenic emissions on the functioning and productivity of Siberia's taiga. Downwind from the world's most polluted Arctic region, tree mortality rates of up to 100% have destroyed 24,000 km2 boreal forest since the 1960s, coincident with dramatic increases in atmospheric sulphur, copper, and nickel concentrations. In addition to regional ecosystem devastation, we demonstrate how 'Arctic Dimming' can explain the circumpolar 'Divergence Problem', and discuss implications on the terrestrial carbon cycle.

5 N Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS Federal Research Centre Krasnoyarsk 660036 Russia

Center for Geography and Environmental Science University of Exeter Penryn TR10 9FE UK

Department of Geography Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno 613 00 Czech Republic

Department of Geography Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz 55099 Germany

Department of Geography University of Cambridge Cambridge CB2 3EN UK

Department of Physical Geography Stockholm University Stockholm 106 91 Sweden

Global Change Research Centre Brno 603 00 Czech Republic

Helmholtz Centrum Geesthacht Institute of Coastal Research Geesthacht 21502 Germany

Institute for Atmosphere for Climate Science ETH Z Zurich 8092 Switzerland

Institute of Ecology and Geography Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk 660041 Russia

Institute of Humanities Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk 660041 Russia

Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology Ural Branch RAS Ekaterinburg 620144 Russia

Mathematical Methods and IT Department Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk 660075 Russia

Rectorate Siberian Federal University Krasnoyarsk 660041 Russia

State Natural Reserve Krasnoyarsk 660006 Russia

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL Birmensdorf 8903 Switzerland

US Forest Service Durham NH 08324 USA

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The influence of decision-making in tree ring-based climate reconstructions