Comparison of reconstructed climate variables from Velay and EPICA records. (A and B) Smoothed annual precipitation and winter temperature reconstructed from the Velay pollen record, respectively. The climatic reconstruction method is based on a search for the best modern analogues (13) among 1,331 spectra from Europe, Northern Asia, and Northern Africa between 10°W/100°E, and 30°N/80°N. Forty-six taxa (40 arboreal, 6 nonarboreal) were used to compute the similarity of fossil spectra with modern analogues. The eight most similar modern spectra were included where their chord distance was <0.4, a threshold obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. The thin lines represent the upper and lower standard deviations. (C) The surface temperature reconstructed from the ice core record of EPICA (15). Dashed areas correspond to the five interglacials: MIS 11.3, MIS 9.5, MIS 7.5, MIS 5.5, and the Holocene and glacial Terminations TI, TII, TIII, TIV, and TV are reported.