Historical Soil Moisture Variability in High‐Latitude Humid Regions: Insights From a Paleoclimate Data‐Model Comparison.

Understanding historical soil moisture (SM) variations and their relationship with temperature in high‐latitude humid regions is essential for predicting hot droughts under widespread warming. This paper presents the first‐ever annual‐resolution summer surface SM reconstruction (1736–2006 CE) in Sweden, located in northern Europe (NE). The reconstruction utilizes the paleoclimate proxy, tree‐ring δ18O, which exhibits a strong correlation with reanalysis SM data during 1948–2007 CE (r = −0.67, p < 0.001). In contrast to an unprecedented trend suggested by previous studies, our reconstruction exhibits a wetting trend in NE since the 1960s falling within the historical spectrum of trends. Both reanalysis SM data and our reconstruction show significant negative correlations with temperature at interannual timescales. However, Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 climate models failed to capture the significant SM‐temperature relationship during the historical (1850–1947 CE) and observation periods (1948–2006 CE). This proxy‐model comparison represents a critical step toward enhancing our understanding of SM dynamics and the reliability of SM projections in high‐latitude humid regions. Plain Language Summary: Soil moisture (SM) refers to water in any form contained in soils, and it plays an important role in sustaining plant growth and influencing climate dynamics. SM deficits can result in ecological/agricultural droughts. However, our understanding of historical SM changes is limited due to the scarcity of long‐term records. Consequently, modeling historical SM changes proves challenging and prone to inaccuracies. In this study, we utilized a tree‐ring record to reconstruct centuries‐long SM changes in Sweden, located in northern Europe. Our analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between SM and temperature in both our reconstruction and SM data sets. However, state‐of‐art models failed to capture the significant relationship observed at our study site. These findings highlight the need to improve climate models to increase the accuracy of climate forecasts and better understand SM dynamics in high‐latitude humid areas. Key Points: This study presents the first 271‐year historical soil moisture (SM) reconstruction in northern Europe (NE) using the tree‐ring δ18O proxySignificant correlations between historical SM and temperature in NE were observed at interannual timescalesOur results implied that Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 models might underestimate the SM‐temperature relationship [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]