What We Know
OSS Editors Note:
This page is here to help people understand that measuring past climate is not from a single source. There are many universities and many fields of expertise involved. The data when combined gives us a good, or reasonable, picture of what climate in the past looked like.
The data and modeling methods are getting better over time, but that does not mean that we don’t have at least a reasonable picture.
‘Climate Change: Lines of Evidence’
Environmental Protection Agency Summary
The EPA has a summary page of what we don’t know
https://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/stateofknowledge.html
As with any field of scientific study, there are uncertainties associated with the science of climate change. This does not imply that scientists do not have confidence in many aspects of climate science. Some aspects of the science are known with virtual certainty1, because they are based on well-known physical laws and documented trends. Current understanding of many other aspects of climate change ranges from “very likely” to “uncertain.”
What’s Known
Scientists know with virtual certainty that:
- Human activities are changing the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times are well-documented and understood.
- The atmospheric buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases is largely the result of human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
- An “unequivocal” warming trend of about 1.0 to 1.7°F occurred from 1906-2005. Warming occurred in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and over the oceans (IPCC, 2007).
- The major greenhouse gases emitted by human activities remain in the atmosphere for periods ranging from decades to centuries. It is therefore virtually certain that atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will continue to rise over the next few decades.
- Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations tend to warm the planet.
What’s Very Likely?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated “Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations” (IPCC, 2007). In short, a growing number of scientific analysis indicate, but cannot prove, that rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are contributing to climate change (as theory predicts). In the coming decades, scientists anticipate that as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise, average global temperatures and sea levels will continue to rise as a result and precipitation patterns will change.
What’s Not Certain?
Important scientific questions remain about how much warming will occur, how fast it will occur, and how the warming will affect the rest of the climate system including precipitation patterns and storms. Answering these questions will require advances in scientific knowledge in a number of areas:
- Improving understanding of natural climatic variations, changes in the sun’s energy, land-use changes, the warming or cooling effects of pollutant aerosols, and the impacts of changing humidity and cloud cover.
- Determining the relative contribution to climate change of human activities and natural causes.
- Projecting future greenhouse emissions and how the climate system will respond within a narrow range.
- Improving understanding of the potential for rapid or abrupt climate change.
Addressing these and other areas of scientific uncertainty is a major priority of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). The CCSP is developing twenty-one Synthesis and Assessment products to advance scientific understanding of these uncertainty areas by the end of 2008. More information.
References
- IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning (eds.)].
1 Throughout the science section of this Web site, use of “virtual certainty” (or virtually certain) conveys a greater than 99% chance that a result is true. Other terms used to communicate confidence include “extremely likely” (greater than 95% chance the result is true), “very likely” (greater than 90% chance the result is true), “likely” (greater than 66% chance the result is true), “more likely than not” (greater than 50% chance the result is true), “unlikely” (less than 33% chance the result is true), “very unlikely” (less than 10% chance the result is true), and “extremely unlikely” (less than 5% chance the result is true). These judgmental estimates originate from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007).
RealClimate Links
Paleo-climate:
- Temperature Variations in Past Centuries and the so-called “Hockey Stick” () ()
- False Claims by McIntyre and McKitrick regarding the Mann et al. (1998) reconstruction
- Myth vs. Fact Regarding the “Hockey Stick” () ()
- Weren’t temperatures warmer than today during the “Medieval Warm Period”? () ()
- OK, But we do know it was warmer than present 6000 years ago, don’t we? () ()
- On Yet Another False Claim by McIntyre and McKitrick
- What If … the “Hockey Stick” Were Wrong? () ()
- Dummies guide to the latest “Hockey Stick” controversy () ()
- Moberg et al: Highly variable Northern Hemisphere temperatures? () ()
- “New Analysis Reproduces Graph of Late 20th Century Temperature Rise”
- Hockey sticks: Round 27
- Debate over the Early Anthropogenic Hypothesis
- A New Take on an Old Millennium
- Sir Nicholas Shackleton
- A Mistake with Repercussions
- Art and climate
- Addendum to “A Mistake with Repercussions”
- How Red are my Proxies?
- National Academies Synthesis Report
- Medieval warmth and English wine
- The missing piece at the Wegman hearing
- Followup to the ‘Hockeystick’ Hearings
- Revealed: Secrets of Abrupt Climate Shifts
- Broadly Misleading
- A Linkage Between the LIA and Gulf Stream?
- When the mites go up…
- What triggers ice ages? () () () ()
- Cold Case vs. CSI () ()
- The lag between temperature and CO2. (Gore’s got it right.) () () ()
- The weirdest millennium
- Curve manipulation: lesson 2
- Younger Dry-as dust?
- Past reconstructions: problems, pitfalls and progress
- The debate is just beginning — on the Cretaceous!
- Tropical cyclone history – part I: How reliable are past hurricane records?
- Tropical cyclone history – part II: Paleotempestology still in its infancy
- 536 AD and all that () () ()
- Progress in reconstructing climate in recent millennia () ()
Paleo Data
Source of data below: https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/data.html
Borehole Data
Borehole data are direct measurements of temperature from boreholes drilled into the Earth crust. Departures from the expected increase in temperature with depth (the geothermal gradient) can be interpreted in terms of changes in temperature at the surface in the past, which have slowly diffused downward, warming or cooling layers meters below the surface.Most borehole data at the WDC are from the University of Michigan’s Global Database of Borehole Temperatures and Climate Reconstructions. more…
ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download borehole data along with other paleo proxy data. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Borehole Data and Climate Reconstructions from University of Michigan’s (UM) Global Database
- List of Borehole Data by Title and Investigator
- UM Borehole Data Access using an ArcIMS GIS interface. Browse, query, and download data from an interactive map.
- Related Journals
Contributing data to the UM Global Borehole Database
- Contribute Borehole Data
- Add Papers to the Publications Index
- Register in the Borehole Researchers Directory
- Comments and Suggestions
More Information
- About the UM Borehole Database Project
- Geothermal Approach to Climate Reconstruction
- Index of Geothermal Publications
- Directory of Geothermal Researchers
- Other Internet Sites of Interest
Related Research
- Pollack et al. 1998 Climate change record in subsurface temperatures: a global perspective
- Huang et al 2000 Temperature trends over the past five centuries reconstructed from borehole temperatures
- Mann et al. 2003 Optimal Surface Temperature Reconstructions Using Terrestrial Borehole Data
- Pollack and Smerdon 2004 Borehole climate reconstructions: Spatial structure and hemispheric averages
- Rutherford and Mann 2004 Correction to Mann et al. 2003 Optimal Surface Temperature Reconstructions
- Huang 2004 Integrated Northern Hemisphere Surface Temperature Reconstruction
Climate Forcing Data
The NOAA Paleoclimatology Program archives data on climate forcing in addition to its extensive paleoclimatic proxy data archives. A variety of data about factors potentially affecting climate are included, such as volcanic eruptions, solar variability, trace gasses and aerosols, and Milankovitch orbital variations.
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Index of Climate Forcing Data by Title and Investigator
-
Orbital Variations
Variations in the Earth’s orbit around the sun (Milankovitch forcing) affect the distribution of solar energy about the globe, resulting in changes in seasonality and climate.
-
Solar Variability
The output of energy from the sun varies slightly over time, changing the total amount of energy absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere and thus affecting climate.
- Reconstructed Solar Irradiance, 1200 Years, Bard et al. 2000
- Reconstructed Solar Irradiance, 400 Years, Lean 2000
- Reconstructed Solar Irradiance, 400 Years, Lean et al. 1995
- Sunspot Numbers, 250 Years, World Data Center for Solar-Terrestrial Physics
- Reconstructed Sunspot Numbers, 11,400 Years, Solanki et al. 2004
- Radionuclide-based Solar Magnetic Activity, 1,000 Years, Muscheler et al. 2007, Text or Excel
- GISP2 10Be, 40,000 Years, Finkel and Nishiizumi 1997
- GRIP 10Be, 386,000 Years, Yiou et al. 1997, Wagner et al. 2001, Baumgartner et al. 1997
- Volcanic and Solar Forcing of the Tropical Pacific, 1,000 Years, Mann et al. 2005
- Reconstructed Cosmic Rays, 400 Years, Usoskin et al. 2002 & 2005, Alanko-Huotari et al. 2006
- Cosmic Ray Induced Ionization (CRII) Rate Reconstruction, 2,000 Years, Usoskin et al. 2008
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Volcanic Aerosols
Volcanic eruptions can inject large amounts of aerosols into the atmosphere, increasing the earth’s albedo (reflectivity) and cooling the climate.
- Listing of Large Holocene Eruptions from the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program
- Monthly Volcanic Forcing Data for Climate Modeling, 110 Years, Ammann et al. 2003
- Volcanic sulfate, 390 Years, Zielinski et al. 1994
- Hypothesized Climate Forcing Time Series for the Last 500 Years, Robertson et al. 2001
- Statistical Analysis of Tropical Volcanic Events, 600 Years, Ammann and Naveau 2003
- Major Volcanic Eruptions, 600 Years, Briffa et al. 1998
- Volcanic and Solar Forcing of the Tropical Pacific, 1,000 Years, Mann et al. 2005
- EPICA Dronning Maud Land volcanic sulfate, 2,000 Years, Traufetter et al. 2004, Text or Excel.
- Volcanic Eruptions and Aerosol Optical Depth, 40,000 Years, Bryson 1988
- GISP2 Volcanic Markers, 110,000 Years, Zielinski and Mershon 1997
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Tropospheric Aerosols
Tropospheric aerosols can affect formation of clouds, as well as increase the Earth’s albedo and cool the climate.
- GISP2 ATM Aerosols, 2 Years, Dibb and Jaffrezo 1997
- GISP2 Insoluble Microparticles, 3600 Years, Zielinski and Mershon 1997
- GISP2 LLS Dust, 111 KYrBP -12 KYrBP, Ram and Koenig 1997
- GISP2 LLS Dust, 400 Years, Donarummo et al. 2002
- GISP2 Ions – B core (0-200 Meters), 700 Years, Mayewski et al. 1997
- GISP2 Ions: Deep (D) Core, 111,000 Years, Mayewski et al. 1997
- GISP2 Ions: Deep (D) Core (Detailed), 100,000 Years, Mayewski et al. 1997
- GISP2 Ions: Shallow (B) Core (Detailed), 700 Years, Mayewski et al. 1997
- GRIP Acidity, 4000 Years, Clausen et al. 1997
- GRIP Ion Concentrations, 386,000 Years, De Angelis et al. 1997
- Vostok Dust Concentration, 421,000 Years, Petit et al. 1999
- Quelccaya Microparticles, 1500 Years, Thompson et al. 1989
- Volcanic Eruptions and Aerosol Optical Depth, 40,000 Years, Bryson 1988
- Hypothesized Climate Forcing Time Series for the Last 500 Years, Robertson et al. 2001
- DIRTMAP Eolian Flux Database Version 2, 18,000 Years, Kohfeld and Harrison 2001
- DIRTMAP Eolian Flux Database Version 1, 18,000 Years, Mahowald et al. 1999
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Atmospheric Trace Gases
Carbon dioxide, methane, and other trace gases absorb infrared energy, resulting in greenhouse warming of the earth.
- GRIP Methane, 39,000 Years, Blunier et al. 1995
- GISP2 Methane, 110,000 Years, Brook et al. 1996
- Law Dome CH4, 1000 Years, Etheridge et al. 1998
- Vostok Methane, 417,000 Years, Petit et al. 1999
- Vostok CO2, 414,000 Years, Petit et al. 1999
- GEOCARB III Phanerozoic Atmospheric CO2, 570 Million Years, Berner and Kothavala 2001
- Cenozoic Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, 60 Million Years, Pearson and Palmer 2000
- Phanerozoic Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, last 542 Million Years, Royer et al. 2006, Text or Excel
- Tertiary Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, 58 – 15 Million YrBP, Royer et al. 2001 Text or Excel
- Paleogene Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, 45 – 25 Million YrBP, Pagani et al. 2005 Text or Excel
- Paleozoic Atmospheric CO2, ~400 – 280 Million YrBP, McElwain and Chaloner 1995 Text or Excel
- Hypothesized Climate Forcing Time Series for the Last 500 Years, Robertson et al. 2001
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Climate Forcing Research Data Sets
Several published collections of various types of climate forcing data are archived at WDC Paleo.
- Forcing and Model Results for the Past 1000 Years, Crowley 2000
- Hypothesized Climate Forcing Time Series for the Last 500 Years, Robertson et al. 2001
- Volcanic Eruptions and Aerosol Optical Depth, 40,000 Years, Bryson 1988
- Volcanic and Solar Forcing of the Tropical Pacific, 1,000 Years, Mann et al. 2005
Contributing Data
Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Page
Other Data Archives
Insolation Calculators and Visualizations
Climate Reconstructions |
The NOAA Paleoclimatology Program archives reconstructions of past climatic conditions derived from paleoclimate proxies, in addition to the Program’s large holdings of primary paleoclimatic proxy data. Included are reconstructions of past temperature, precipitation, vegetation, streamflow, sea surface temperature, and other climatic or climate-dependent conditions. |
Reconstructions: | Air Temperature | Hydroclimate | Circulation | SST | Other | Search by Author |
Air Temperature
Global and Hemispheric
- Global & Hemispheric Temperature, NAO, and SOI (Review), 2000 Years, Jones and Mann 2004.
- Global Temperature (PCA: Tree-rings, Ice Cores, Corals, Sediments, Historical), 1000 Years, Jones et al. 1998
- Global Temperature (PCA: Tree-rings, Ice Cores, Corals) and Spatial Distribution, 600 Years, Mann et al. 2000.
- Global & Hemispheric Temperature (CPS & EIV: Tree Rings, Multiproxy), 2,000 Years, Mann et al. 2008.
- Global Temperature (PCA: Tree-rings, Ice Cores, Corals, Historical), 600 Years, Mann et al. 1998.
- Global Temperature (Glacier Length), 400 Years, Oerlemans 2005
- Global Temperature (Geothermal Heat Flow Analysis: Boreholes), 500 Years, Pollack et al. 1998.
- Antarctic Temperature, Vostok, (Isotopes: Ice Core) 414,000 Years, Petit et al. 1999.
- Antarctic Temperature, EPICA Dome C, (Isotopes: Ice Core) 800,000 Years, Jouzel et al. 2007.
- Northern Hemisphere & Regional Temperature (Age Band Decomp.: Tree-rings), 600 Years, Briffa et al. 2001.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Regression: Tree-rings), 600 Years, Briffa et al. 1998.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Tree-rings, Ice Cores, Historical), 1000 Years, Crowley & Lowery 2000.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (RCS and STD: Tree-rings), 1300 Years, D’Arrigo et al. 2006.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (RCS: Tree-rings), 1000 Years, Esper et al. 2002.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Boreholes, Tree-ring, Ice Cores, Corals), 500 Years, Huang 2004.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Review), 1000 Years, IPCC Fourth Assessment, Working Group 1, 2007.
- Hemispheric Temperature, NAO, and SOI (Review), 1000 Years, Jones et al. 2001.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (PCA: Tree-rings, Ice Cores, Corals), 1000 Years, Mann et al. 1999.
- Hemispheric Temperature (Historical, Tree-rings, Ice Cores, Sediment), 2000 Years, Mann and Jones 2003.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Wavelet: Sediments, Tree-rings), 2000 Years, Moberg et al. 2005.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature, Warm/Cold Spatial Extent, 1,200 Years, Osborn and Briffa 2006.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Review/Comparison), 600 Years, Rutherford et al. 2005.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Speleothem Layer Thickness), 500 Years, Smith et al. 2006.
- Northern Hemisphere Temperature (Tree-rings), 250 Years, Wilson et al. 2007.
Local and Regional
- Greenland Temperature, 49,000 Years, Alley 2000
- Arctic Temperature, 400 Years, Overpeck et al. 1997
- Antarctic Temperature, 200 Years, Schneider et al. 2006
- Dome Fuji, Antarctica Preliminary Temperature, 340,000 Years, Kawamura et al. 2007
- Africa
- Lake Malawi, East Africa Surface Temperature, 25,000 Years, Powers et al. 2005.
- Lake Tanganyika, East Africa Surface Temperature, 60,000 Years, Tierney et al. 2008, Text or Excel
- Congo River Basin Mean Air Temperature, 25,000 Years, Weijers et al. 2007, Text or Excel format.
- Asia
- China Temperature, 2000 Years, Yang et al. 2002.
- East China Winter Temperature, 2000 Years, Ge et al. 2003.
- Beijing, China Temperature, 2650 Years, Tan et al. 2003.
- Taymir, northern Siberia, Summer Temperature, 400 Years, Jacoby et al. 2000.
- Yamal Peninsula, western Siberia, Summer Temperature, 4000 Years, Hantemirov and Shiyatov 2002.
- Kathmandu, Nepal, Pre- and Post- Monsoon Temperature, 550 Years, Cook et al. 2003.
- Hokkaido, Japan Warm Season Temperature, 440 Years, Davi et al. 2001.
- Lake Suigetsu, Japan Temperature, 15,700 – 10,200 YrBP, Nakagawa et al. 2006, Text or Excel format.
- Australia, New Zealand
- New Zealand Temperature, 270 Years, Xiong and Palmer 2000.
- Tasmania Temperature, 3600 Years, Cook et al. 2000
- Europe
- European Gridded and Regional Summer Temperature and Data Visualization, 225 Years, Briffa 1988.
- European Seasonal Temperature, with Data Visualization, 500 Years, Xoplaki et al. 2005, Luterbacher et al. 2004.
- European Pattern Climatology, Gridded Monthly Temp., Precip., 500hPa Height, and Data Visualization, 340 Years, Casty et al. 2007.
- European Alps Temperature and Precipitation Reconstructions, 500 Years, Casty et al. 2005.
- Central Alps Temperature, 2,000 Years, Mangini et al. 2005.
- Swiss Alps Temperature, 400 Years, Blass et al. 2007, Text or Excel.
- Switzerland Spring-Summer Temperature, 526 Years, Meier et al. 2007.
- Burgundy Spring-Summer Temperature, 630 Years, Chuine et al. 2004.
- Northeastern Fennoscandia July Temperature, 2,000 Years, Bjune et al. 2008, Text or Excel.
- Northern Coastal Norway Temperature, 650 Years, Kirchhefer 2001
- Abisko Valley, Northern Sweden Temperature, 10,000 Years, Larocque and Hall 2004, Text or Excel.
- Raufarhofn, Iceland August Temperature, 2,000 Years, Axford et al. 2008, Text or Excel.
- North America
- Baffin Island Summer Temperature, 500 Years, Hughen et al. 2000.
- Baffin Island Summer Temperature, 1200 Years, Moore et al. 2001.
- Baffin Island Summer Temperature, 1,000 Years, Thomas and Briner 2008, Text or Excel.
- Northwest Canada Temperature, 350 Years, Szeicz et al. 1995.
- Northwest Territories Summer Temperature, 2,000 Years, MacDonald et al. 2008, Text or Excel.
- Nunavut July Temperature and Precipitation, 2,500 Years, Peros and Gajewski 2008, Text or Excel.
- Nunavut Summer Temperature, 2,000 Years, Porinchu et al. 2008, Text or Excel.
- Canadian Rockies Summer Temperature, 1050 Years, Luckman and Wilson 2005.
- Gulf of Alaska March-May, March-Sept., and April-Sept. Temperature, 400 Years, Wiles et al. 1998.
- Southern Alaska Summer Temperature, 1,500 Years, Loso 2008, Text or Excel.
- Wrangell Mountains, Alaska Warm Season Temperature, 400 Years, Davi et al. 2003.
- USA Pacific Northwest Temperature, 250 Years, Wiles et al. 1996.
- East-central Idaho July Temperature Reconstruction, 850 Years, Biondi et al. 1999.
- Southern Colorado Plateau Temperature Reconstruction, 2,262 Years, Salzer and Kipfmueller 2005.
- West N.America Gridded & Regional Summer Temperature and Data Visualization, 400 Years, Briffa et al. 1992.
- Large Scale N.American Temp. and Precip., Description, and Data Visualization, 400 Years, Fritts 1991.
- North American and Regional July Temperature Reconstructions, 14,000 Years, Viau et al. 2006, Text or Excel.
Hydroclimate
- Africa
- East Africa Drought, 1100 Years, Verschuren et al. 2000.
- North America
- NOAA/NESDIS North American Drought Variability project
(includes Tree-ring reconstructed PDSI). - A Paleo Perspective on North American Drought
- North American PDSI, 2000 Years, Cook et al. 2004.
- North American Great Plains Drought, 2300 Years, Laird et al. 1996.
- North American Great Plains Drought, 11,000 Years, Laird et al. 1996.
- Upper Mississippi Basin Aridity, 10,000 Years, Dean et al. 1997.
- U.S. Drought Area Index, 270 Years, Cook et al. 1997.
- U.S. PDSI, text or Microsoft Excel, and Data Visualization, 280 Years, Zhang et al. 2004.
- Western U.S. Drought Area Index, 1200 Years, Cook et al. 2004.
- Southwest US Drought Index, 570 Years, Cook unpublished data.
- Southwestern US Drought Maps from Pinyon Tree-Ring δ13C, 400 Years, Leavitt et al. 2007.
- Eastern Colorado PDSI, 440 Years, Woodhouse et al. 2001.
- Texas PDSI, 280 Years, Stahle and Cleaveland 1988.
- Northeastern Utah PDSI, 600 Years, Gray et al. 2003.
- Northern California and Nevada Multicentennial Droughts, 7600 Years, Benson et al. 2002.
- East USA Lost Colony/Jamestown Droughts, 800 Years, Stahle et al. 1998.
- Central American Drought and the Classic Maya Civilization, 9700 Years, Hodell et al. 1995.
Precipitation
- Africa
- East African Precipitation 40,000 Years, Bonnefille and Chalié 2000.
- Zimbabwe Summer Precipitation, 200 Years, Therrell et al. 2006, Text or Excel format.
- Asia
- Huashuan, China Precipitation, 400 Years, Hughes et al. 1994.
- Mongolia Riverflow and Precipitation Reconstructions, 350 Years, Pederson et al. 2001.
- Lake Suigetsu, Japan Precipitation, 15,700 – 10,200 YrBP, Nakagawa et al. 2006, Text or Excel format.
- Southern Jordan Precipitation, 400 Years, Touchan et al. 1999.
- Australia, New Zealand
- Queensland, Australia Riverflow and Precipitation, 350 Years, Lough 2007.
- Europe
- Gridded European Seasonal Precipitation, 500 Years, Pauling et al. 2006.
- Scotland Precipitation, 3600 Years, Proctor et al. 2002.
- Scotland Precipitation, 1000 Years, Proctor et al. 2000.
- Lyngen Peninsula, Norway, Winter Precipitation, Text or Excel, 20,000 Years, Bakke et al. 2005.
- Bavarian Forest Spring-Summer Precipitation, 500 Years, Wilson et al. 2005.
- Turkey Precipitation 350 Years, D’Arrigo and Cullen 2001.
- Southwest Turkey Precipitation 660 Years, Touchan et al. 2003.
- Northwest Turkey Precipitation 365 Years, Akkemik et al. 2005.
- South Central Turkey Precipitation 300 Years, Akkemik et al. 2005.
- Northern Aegean (NE Greece/NW Turkey) May-June Precipitation, 900 Years, Griggs et al. 2007, Text or Excel.
- Eastern Mediterranean May-August Precipitation, 600 Years, Touchan et al. 2005, Text or Excel.
- North America
- Large Scale North American Temperature and Precipitation ,Description, and Data Visualization, 400 Years, Fritts 1991.
- Southern Manitoba precipitation reconstruction, 595 Years, St. George and Nielsen 2002.
- Northeast USA Little Ice Age Precipitation, 2000 Years, Gajewski 1988.
- Montpelier Plantation, Virginia Precipitation, 180 Years, Druckenbrod et al. 2003.
- Southeast USA Precipitation and PDSI reconstructions, 1000 Years, Stahle and Cleaveland 1992.
- Iowa Precipitation and PDSI reconstructions, 340 Years, Cleaveland and Duvick 1992.
- Missouri Precipitation and PDSI reconstructions, 400 Years, Cleaveland and Stahle 1996.
- Eastern Oregon Precipitation and PDSI, 300 Years, Garfin and Hughes 1997.
- Glacier National Park Mean Summer Deficit, 460 Years, Pederson et al. 2006.
- Bighorn Basin Wyoming/Montana Precipitation, 739 Years, Gray et al. 2004.
- Uinta Basin, Utah Precipitation, 775 Years, Gray et al. 2004.
- El Malpais, New Mexico Precipitation, 2129 Years, Grissino 1996.
- Arizona and New Mexico Climate Division Precipitation, 1000 Years, Ni et al. 2002.
- Southern Colorado Plateau Precipitation Reconstruction, 1,425 Years, Salzer and Kipfmueller 2005.
- Nevada Precipitation, 8000 Years, Hughes and Graumlich 1996.
- Durango, Mexico precipitation reconstruction, 610 Years, Cleaveland et al. 2003.
- Chihuahua, Mexico precipitation reconstruction, 350 Years, Díaz et al. 2002.
- Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, precipitation reconstruction, 220 Years, Pohl et al. 2003.
Streamflow
- Asia
- Selenge River, Mongolia Streamflow, 360 Years, Davi et al. 2006.
- Australia, New Zealand
- Burdekin River, Australia Streamflow, 350 Years, Isdale et al. 1998.
- Queensland, Australia Riverflow and Precipitation, 350 Years, Lough 2007.
- North America
- Upper Colorado River and tributaries flow, 1200 Years, Meko et al. 2007.
- Colorado River and tributaries flow, Text or Microsoft Excel format, 500 Years, Stockton and Jacoby 1976.
- Upper Colorado River and tributaries flow, 500 Years, Woodhouse et al. 2006.
- California TreeFlow – Tree Ring Reconstructions of Streamflow for California
- Feather River, California flow reconstruction, 1076 Years, Meko 2001.
- Sacramento River, California flow reconstruction (JAWRA), 1109 Years, Meko et al. 2001.
- Sacramento River, California flow reconstruction (CDWR), 1076 Years, Meko 2001.
- Salinas River, California flow reconstruction, 595 Years, Griffin 2005.
- TreeFlow Project – Tree Ring Reconstructions of Streamflow for Colorado
- Clear Creek Colorado Annual Flow Reconstruction, 300 Years, Woodhouse 2000.
- Middle Boulder Creek Colorado Flow Reconstruction, 280 Years, Woodhouse 2001.
- Yellowstone River, Montana flow reconstruction, 270 Years, Graumlich et al. 2003.
- White River, Arkansas flow reconstruction, 963 Years, Cleaveland 2000.
- White River, Arkansas flow reconstruction, 280 Years, Cleaveland and Stahle 1989.
Other
- Europe
- Northern England Peatland Water Table, 4800 Years, Charman 2000.
- Northern Britain Stacked Water Table Record, 4400 Years, Charman et al. 2006.
- Folgefonna Glacier, Norway, Equilibrium-Line Altitude, Text or Excel, 6,000 Years, Bakke et al. 2005.
- Lyngen Peninsula, Norway, Glacier Equilibrium-Line Altitude, Text or Excel, 4,000 Years, Bakke et al. 2005.
- North America
- Chesapeake Bay Salinity reconstructions, text or Excel format, 550 Years, Cronin et al. 2000.
- Michigan Water Table Depth Reconstruction, 3,500 Years, Booth and Jackson 2003.
- Gunnison River Basin Snow Water Equivalent Reconstruction, 430 Years, Woodhouse 2003.
- Central Mexico Maize Yield Reconstruction, 525 Years, Therrell et al. 2006.
- San Francisco Bay Salinity reconstructions, 390 Years, Stahle et al. 2001.
- Caribbean Sea Salinity reconstructions, 130,000 Years, Schmidt et al. 2004.
Atmospheric Circulation Patterns
- Arctic Oscillation Warm Season SAT and SLP Indices, 325 Years, D’Arrigo et al. 2003.
- Increase in the Asian SW Monsoon During the Past Four Centuries, 400 Years, Anderson et al. 2002.
- Western Indian Ocean low-level cross-equatorial jet, 342 years, Gong & Luterbacher 2008, Text or Excel
- Pacific
- Pacific Decadal Oscillation, 330 Years, Biondi et al. 2001.
- Pacific Decadal Oscillation, 420 Years, D’Arrigo and Wilson 2006, Text or Excel
- Pacific Decadal Oscillation, 300 Years, D’Arrigo et al. 2001.
- Pacific Decadal Oscillation, 1,000 Years, MacDonald and Case 2005.
- Pacific Decadal Oscillation, 530 Years, Shen et al. 2006.
- Niño 3 Index, 575 Years, Cook unpublished.
- Niño 3 Index and Description, 330 Years, Mann et al. 2000.
- El Niño Events, 500 Years, Quinn and Neal 1983.
- Southern Oscillation Index, 270 Years, Stahle et al. 1998.
- Fiji-Tonga Interdecadal-Decadal Pacific Oscillation Index, 350 Years, Linsley et al. 2008, Text or Excel.
- Atlantic
- Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation Index, 420 Years, Gray et al. 2004.
- North Atlantic Oscillation Index, 600 Years, Cook et al. 2002.
- North Atlantic Oscillation Index, 280 Years, Cook et al. 1998.
- North Atlantic Oscillation Index, 550 Years, Glueck and Stockton 2001.
- North Atlantic Oscillation Index, 500 Years, Luterbacher et al. 2002.
- North Atlantic Oscillation Index, 275 Years, Timm et al. 2004, Text or Excel format.
- North Atlantic Oscillation Index, Southern Oscillation Index, 1000 Years, Jones et al. 2001.
- Eastern North Atlantic-European Sea Level Pressure Reconstruction, and Data Visualization, 500 Years, Luterbacher et al. 2002.
Sea Surface Temperature
- Global LGM SST and Description, 18,000 YBP, Mix et al. 1999.
- Global Sea Surface Temperature, Holocene/Modern, Bollmann et al. 2002.
- Global Gridded LGM Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity, Description, and Data Visualization, 18,000 Years Before Present, Paul and Schäfer-Neth 2003.
- Global Gridded LGM Sea Surface Temperature, Description, and Data Visualization, 18,000 YBP, Hostetler and Mix 1999.
- Global CLIMAP LGM Sea Surface Temperature, 18,000 Years Before Present, CLIMAP Members 1981.
- Southern Ocean Sea Surface Temperature, 200,000 Years, Brathauer et al. 1999.
- Southern Ocean Sea Surface Temperature, 290,000 Years, Mashiotta et al. 1999.
- Southern Ocean Sea Surface Temperature, 160,000 years, Pahnke and Sachs 2006, Text or Excel.
- Southern Ocean, South Australia SST, 30,000 years, Calvo et al. 2007, Text or Excel.
- Southern Ocean Miocene Sea Surface Temperature, 17 – 11 MYrBP, Shevenell et al. 2004, Text or Excel.
- Atlantic/Pacific Bottom Water Temperature, 331,000 years, Martin et al. 2002, Text or Excel.
- Tropical Sea Surface Temperature, 250 Years, Wilson et al. 2006.
- Pacific
- Pacific SST Reconstructions and Description, 400 Years, Evans et al. 2002.
- Eastern Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 1,830,000 Years, Liu and Herbert 2004.
- Eastern Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 36,000 Years, Kienast et al. 2006, Text or Excel.
- Eastern Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 5,089,000 Years, Lawrence et al. 2006, Text or Excel.
- Eastern Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature & SSS, 90,000 Years, Leduc et al. 2007, Text or Excel.
- Southeast Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 25,000 – 10,000 Years BP, Lamy et al. 2007, Text or Excel.
- Galápagos Sea Surface Temperature, 135,000 Years, Lea et al. 2006, Text or Excel.
- Southwest Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 1,185,000 Years, Crundwell et al. 2008.
- Southwest Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 340,000 Years, Pahnke et al. 2003.
- Southwest Pacific LGM Sea Surface Temperature and Description, 18,000 YBP, Barrows et al. 2000.
- Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 470,000 Years, Lea et al. 2000.
- Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 1.5 – 0.5 MMYrBP, McClymont and Rosell-Melé 2006.
- Western Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, 1,750,000 Years, de Garidel-Thoron et al. 2005
- Western Tropical Pacific SST, 21,000 Years, Stott et al. 2007.
- Western Tropical Pacific SST and Salinity, text or Excel format, 15,000 Years, Stott et al. 2004.
- Western Tropical Pacific SST, text or Excel format, 67,000 Years, Stott et al. 2002.
- Western Tropical Pacific SST, text or Excel format, 1,340,000 Years, Medina-Elizalde and Lea 2005.
- Indo-Pacific Warm Pool SST and SSS, text or Excel format, 1,000 Years, Newton et al. 2006.
- Coral Sea SST, text or Excel format, 815,000 Years, Lawrence and Herbert 2005.
- Sea of Okhotsk alkenone SST, text or Excel format, 120,000 Years, Harada et al. 2006.
- Northwest Pacific alkenone SST, text or Excel format, 144,000 Years, Yamamoto et al. 2005.
- Okinawa Trough SST, 18,000 Years, Sun et al. 2005
- South China Sea Alkenone Deglacial SST Estimates, 3,000-16,000 Years Before Present, Kienast et al. 2001
- South China Sea Alkenone SST Estimates, 4,690,000 Years, Clemens et al. 2008, Text or Excel
- South China Sea Coral Sr Data and SST Reconstruction, 100 Years, Sun et al. 2004
- California Current Collapse, LGM, 18,000 Years Before Present, Herbert et al. 2001
- California Current alkenone SST, text or Excel format, 136,000 Years, Yamamoto et al. 2007.
- Strait of Juan de Fuca SST, 155 Years, Strom et al. 2004
- Rarotonga Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction, 270 Years, Linsley et al. 2000.
- Southern Peru-Chile Current Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction, 8,000 Years, Lamy et al. 2002.
- Southeast Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction, 70,000 years, Kaiser et al. 2005.
- Southern Peru-Chile Current Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction, 50 KyrBP-8 KYr BP, Lamy et al. 2004.
- Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, SST, 16,000 Years, Samson et al. 2005, Text or Excel format.
- Tasmanian Gateway SST, 500,000 Years, Nürnberg et al. 2004, Text or Excel format.
- Tasman Sea SST, 600,000 Years, Nürnberg and Groeneveld 2006, Text or Excel format.
- Great Barrier Reef Sea Surface Temperature Reconstruction, 440 Years, Wörheide 1998.
- Vanuatu Sea Surface Temperature, 4200 Years Before Present, Correge et al. 2000.
- Atlantic
- Subpolar North Atlantic Holocene SST, Text or Excel, 11,000 – 500 YrBP, Came et al. 2007.
- Subpolar North Atlantic SST, Text or Excel, 191,000 years, Oppo et al. 2006.
- North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, 107,000 Years, Bard 2002.
- North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity, 59,000 – 45,000 Years Before Present, Schmidt et al. 2006.
- North Atlantic 8200BP Event Summer and Winter SST, Text or Excel, 9,200 – 7,200 YrBP, Ellison et al. 2006.
- Northeast North Atlantic Faunal SST, Text or Excel, 56 – 40 KYrBP, Dickson et al. 2008.
- Northeast North Atlantic Younger Dryas SST/SSS, Text or Excel, 13 – 10 KYrBP, Ebbesen and Hald 2004.
- Gulf of Maine, 1000 years, Wanamaker et al. 2008, Text or Excel.
- Chesapeake Bay Spring Temperature, 2,200 Years, Cronin et al. 2003.
- Subtropical North Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, 60 – 30 KYrBP, Sachs and Lehman 1999, Text or Excel.
- Subtropical Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, 23,000 Years, deMenocal et al. 2000.
- Tropical Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, 29,000 Years, Rühlemann et al. 1999.
- Southeast Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, 41 – 10 KYrBP, Sachs et al. 2001, Text or Excel.
- Equatorial East Atlantic SST/SSS, 155,000 Years, Weldeab et al. 2007.
- Equatorial East Atlantic SST, 275,000 Years, Nürnberg et al. 2000.
- South-east Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature, 1.5 – 0.5 MMYrBP, McClymont et al. 2005.
- Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean Sea Surface Temperature, 52 KYrBP, Cacho et al. 1999, Text or Excel.
- Western Mediterranean Sea Surface Temperature, 52 KYrBP, Cacho et al. 2001, Text or Excel.
- Equatorial Atlantic Sea Surface Temperature and Description, 30,000 Years, Sikes and Keigwin 1994.
- Equatorial and North Atlantic SST and Description, 125,000 Years, Waelbroeck et al. 1998.
- Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico, 44 – 28 KYrBP, Hill et al. 2006, Text or Excel.
- Orca Basin, Gulf of Mexico, 10.5 – 7 KYrBP SST, LoDico et al. 2006, Text or Excel.
- Cariaco Basin Sea Surface Temperature, 25,000 Years, Lea et al. 2003.
- Cariaco Basin Sea Surface Temperature, 800 years, Black et al. 2007, Text or Excel.
- Northeast Caribbean Sea Surface Temperature, 1,950 Years, Nyberg et al. 2002.
- Northeast Caribbean Sea Surface Temperature, 300 Years, Winter et al. 2000.
- Western Caribbean Sea Surface Temperature, 475,000 Years, Schmidt et al. 2006.
- Indian
- Arabian Sea Surface Temperature Patterns, 20,000 Years, Dahl and Oppo 2006, Text or Excel format.
- Indian Ocean Sea Surface Temperature, 131,000 Years, Saraswat et al. 2005, Text or Excel format.
- Indian Ocean Sea Surface Temperature, 171,000 Years, Bard et al. 1997.
Other
Earth Surface Conditions
- Global Ice Topography, 21,000 Years, Peltier 1994.
- Global Ice Coverage, 21,000 Years, Peltier 1994.
- Global Relative Sea Level Histories, 21,000 Years, Peltier and Tushingham 1992.
- North American Vegetation, 18,000 Years Before Present, Overpeck et al. 1992.
- European Vegetation (BIOME6000), 6000 Years Before Present, Prentice et al. 1996.
- Tahiti Relative Sea Level History, 13,000 Years, Bard et al. 1996.
- Red Sea Sea Level, Text or Excel format, 380,000 Years, Siddall et al. 2003.
- Millennial-Scale Sea Level, Text or Excel format, 83,000 – 13,000 Years BP, Arz et al. 2007.
- Southwest Pacific pH, 300 Years, Pelejero et al. 2005.
Miscellaneous
- Western North Atlantic Intense Hurricane Activity, 5,000 Years, Donnelly and Woodruff 2007.
- Estimated Number of Major Atlantic Hurricanes and Vertical Windshear, 260 Years, Nyberg et al. 2007.
- “Climate Since AD 1500” Collected reconstructions, 500 Years, Bradley and Jones 1992.
Corals and Sclerosponges
Coral data at the WDC consist of stable isotope and trace metal analyses from corals located around the globe. Corals serve as proxies of upper ocean environment, such as sea surface temperature and salinity, over the past several centuries.
Search |
Search data by site name, location, investigator and date. |
ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download coral data along with other paleo proxy data. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Coral Data Search Engine
- Search by Author
- Browse Coral Data Geographically
- List of Coral Data by Title and Investigator
- Online ArcIMS GIS Interface to Coral Data
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- International Research Institute/Lamont
- Doherty Earth Observatory Climate Data Library
- Popular Climate Time Series from NOAA Joint Institute for the Study of the Ocean and Atmosphere
Related Science Links
- Introduction to Coral Paleoclimatology
- Annual Records of Tropical Systems (ARTS)
- CoralXDS program for measurement of extension, density, and calcification from X-radiographs.
- Earth System History (ESH) at the National Science Foundation
- NOAA’s Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS)
Faunal Data
The WDC archives faunal data that provide a valuable complement to pollen and plant macrofossil data. One data set is now available, The Sahara in the Holocene. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- FAUNMAP is an electronic database documenting the late Quaternary distribution of mammal species in the United States. It has been developed at the Illinois State Museum with support from the National Science Foundation (BSR-9005144). This project is co-directed by Dr. Russell W. Graham of the Pennsylvania State University’s Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum and Dr. Ernest L. Lundelius, Jr. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Historical/Documentary Data Sets
Bradley, R.S., 1991. Pre-instrumental climate: how has climate varied during the past 500 years? | Garcia et al. Manila Galleons Voyage Records |
The NOAA Paleoclimatology Program distributes archives of paleoclimatic indicators derived from historical references and documentary evidence, such as church records, harvest dates, harbor ice free dates, etc.
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Historical Climate Data Catalogue
- Casty et al. 2005 European Alps Temperature and Precipitation Reconstructions
- Casty et al. 2007 European Pattern Climatology, Gridded Monthly Temp., Precip., 500hPa Height
- Chuine et al. 2004 Burgundy Grape Harvest Dates and Spring-Summer Temperature
- Garcia et al. 2001 Manila Galleons Voyage Records
- Garcia-Herrera et al. 2008 Northern Peru Documentary El Niño Data:
Data Description and Documentary Source Material in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel format. - Ge et al. Winter Half-Year Temperature for East-Central China
- Luterbacher et al. North Atlantic/Europe Sea Level Pressure Reconstruction
- Meier et al. 2007 Swiss Grape Harvest Dates and Spring-Summer Temperature
- Mikami Historical Climate Indices in Japan and Description.
- Pauling et al. 2006 Gridded European Seasonal Precipitation Reconstructions
- Pfister et al. Historical Climate Indices in Switzerland and Description.
- Quinn and Neal Historical Record of El Niño Events and Description.
- Rutishauser et al. 2007 Swiss Spring Phenology Reconstruction, Text or Excel
- Rutishauser 2003 Swiss Cherry Flowering Dates, Text or Excel
- Schwartz and Reiter North American Lilac Phenology Data
- Shen et al. 2006 Pacific Decadal Oscillation Reconstruction
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- ALP-IMP Multi-centennial climate variability in the Alps based on Instrumental data, Model simulations and Proxy data.
- EURO-CLIMHIST European high-resolution climatic proxy evidence from documentary archives.
- RECLIDO Spanish network of climate reconstruction from documentary sources.
Ice Cores
The Ice Core Gateway provides Ice Core Data from WDC Paleo and the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.
The NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), and the World Data Centers for Paleoclimatology and for Glaciology (Snow and Ice) jointly maintain archives of ice core data from throughout the world. Data from polar and low latitude mountain glaciers and ice caps are archived. Proxy climate indicators include oxygen isotopes, methane concentrations, dust content, and other parameters.
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Ice Core Data Search, pull-down menus
- List of Icecore Data by Title and Investigator
- WDC Paleo Data Search, free-text
- WDC Paleo Data Search by Author
- The 1997 Greenland Summit Ice Cores CD-ROM is available. This Web version includes data, documentation, visualization and search capabilities for Greenland Summit ice core data included in the 1997 JGR Special Greenland Ice Core Issue.
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
Related Science Initiatives
Insect Data
The WDC for Paleoclimatology archives climate proxy insect data and insect-based climate reconstructions.
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Carabus nitens image by Peter Skidmore |
Chironomid data from Ongoke Lake, Alaska have been contributed by Melissa Chipman, University of Illinois, Text or Excel Chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions and data for the Abisko Valley, Northern Sweden, have been contributed by Dr. Isabelle Larocque, Institut National de Recherche Scientifique, Québec, text or Excel. Chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions and data for Stora Vidarvatn, Iceland, have been contributed by Yarrow Axford, University of Colorado, text or Excel. Chironomid-inferred temperature reconstructions for Lake S41, Northwest Territories, have been contributed by Glen M. MacDonald, University of California at Los Angeles, text or Excel. Midge-inferred temperature reconstructions for Lake V57, Northwest Territories, have been contributed by David Porinchu, The Ohio State University, text or Excel. |
Chironomid data from lake cores from Canada have been contributed by Ian Walker (University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada). These data are in zipped Tilia 2.0 files with accompanying forms. The sites available thus far are: Cabin Lake, BC; Hippa Lake, BC; Marion Lake, BC; Mike Lake, BC; Misty Lake, BC; Tugulnuit Lake, BC; Wood Lake, BC; Basswood Road Lake/Splan Pond, NB; and Brier Island Bog, NS. For data description Click Here.
A database of modern North American Beetles (2 Mbytes), and fossil data from Alaska, have been contributed by Scott Elias (University of Colorado, now at University of London).
BugsCEP is a research and teaching aid for palaeoentomology, Quaternary entomology and ecology. As well as habitat and distribution data, it includes tools for climate and environmental reconstruction, and facilities for storing site based abundance/collection data. A variety of searching and reporting functions greatly augment the efficiency of beetle based research.
BugsCEP is built around a comprehensive database of beetle ecology and European fossil records which has been accumulated over the past 20 years. The latest version includes numerous non-beetle Quaternary taxa including flies, bugs and ants. It includes bibliographic references for all data.
The data has been provided by Phil Buckland (Umeå University, Sweden) and Paul Buckland (Bournemouth University, UK), and is available for free from https://www.bugscep.com/ or from the WDC Paleo.
BugsCEP will run on any Windows 2000 or XP machine (please download the approporiate version), but requires MS Excel for some of the advanced functions. The 2000 version may run on Windows NT4, but has not been tested. Download BugsCEP (Version 30 October 2007): Windows 2000 or Windows XP format. (Note: Large files, 53 MB). Phil Buckland’s Umeå University thesis provides documentation for the database.
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Download Insect Data
- Search by Author
- Index of Insect Data by Title and Investigator
- BugsCEP
- Chironomid Data
- North American Beetles
- Alaska Fossil Faunal Data
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
Lake Level Reconstructions
The water level in lakes fluctuates with changes in moisture balance (precipitation minus evaporation) within the lake basin. In closed basin lakes, particularly in arid regions, lake level fluctuations can be dramatic, resulting in fossil shoreline deposits and other features indicative of past lake level. A history of moisture balance and climate in the basin can then be derived. WDC for Paleoclimatology archives Paleolimnologic, Pollen, and Plant Macrofossil data separately from the Lake Level data described on this page. Image at left: Pyramid Island, Pyramid Lake, Nevada by Larry Benson |
ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download lake level data along with other paleo proxy data. |
Obtaining Data – Lake Level Histories Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Locate and download data from an interactive map via an ArcIMS GIS interface.
- Global Lake Level Status Grids, Viau and Gajewski 2001
- Oxford Global Lake Level Database and Description Street-Perrott et al. 1989
- Former Soviet Union and Mongolia Lake Level Histories and Description Tarasov et al. 1996
- Lake Level Histories for Europe and Description Yu et al. 1995
- Aral Sea and Caspian Sea Extent and Description Harrison et al. 1991
- Owens Lake California Lake Level History and Description Benson et al. 1996
- Peace-Athabasca Lake Levels and Description Stockton and Fritts 1973.
- Athabasca Lake Level & Supplementary Information (PDF, 1.4MB) Meko 2002, 2006.
- Crooked Pond, Massachusetts Lake Level and Hydrogen Isotope Data,
Text or Excel format.
See Also
Loess and Eolian Dust Data
Loess and Eolian dust refer to silt-sized material deposited on the Earth surface by the surface winds. These deposits provide some of the most dramatic examples of changes in climate and the effect of processes that shape the landscape. Successive layers are often analyzed to provide a history of the winds and surficial processes through time. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Clemens et al. 2008 Stacked Lingtai/Zhaojiachuan, China Loess Quartz Grain Size and Magnetic Susceptibility Data, Text or Excel format.
- DIRTMAP Global Eolian Flux Database, Last Glacial Maximum, Late Holocene, and Modern: Version 2 all data, or individual Version 2 tables by source type. The Version 1 database tables are also available.
- Ding et al. 1999 Lingtai, China Loess Stratigraphy and Description.
- Sun and An 2005 China Loess Plateau Mass Accumulation Rate Data, Text or Excel format.
- Sun et al. 2006 China Loess Plateau Grain Size and Magnetic Susceptibility Data, Text or Excel format.
- Kohfeld et al. Mid-continent USA Peoria Loess Thickness Data.
- Ice Core Tropospheric Aerosol Data.
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Paleoclimate Modeling
Efforts to understand past climate and predict future climate change rely on computer climate models that include the physical processes of the climate system. The Paleoclimatology Program encourages the use of climate models to investigate the past, and supports rigorous comparisons between the output from numerical simulations and the paleoclimate data. The World Data Center for Paleoclimatology archives climate model input and output files, and serves as a data management center for the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP).
Search |
Search data by model run, time interval, and model output.Visualizations |
View Visualizations of Paleoclimate Data. |
Obtaining Data at the WDC
- Climate Model Data and Visualization Page
- Climate Forcing
- Model Data Access via DODS/OPeNDAP
- Search Engine for Model Output
- Search Engine for Boundary Conditions
- Search by Contributor
- Schmittner et al. 2007 Ocean O and N Cycle Simulations
- Visit The Data Visualizations Page
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- CERA-WWW Gateway
- Internationale Paläoklima-Datenbankk
- National Center for Atmospheric Research
- UW Center for Climatic Research
Related Science Initiatives
International Multiproxy Paleofire Database
Fire scar… | Sediment core… | |
The International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD) is an archive of fire history data derived from natural proxies. The IMPD, which includes data from tree scars and establishment data, and charcoal in sediment records, has been established with guidance from an Advisory Board to provide a permanent repository for high-quality paleofire records from around the world. For more information about paleofire data see our Introduction to Fire History Reconstruction.
Search |
Search data by site name, location, investigator, and date.ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download paleofire data along with other paleo proxy data. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Fire History Data Search Engine (Search and download data archived through Dec. 15, 2007)
- Download Recent Fire History Data (Contributions received after Dec. 16, 2007)
- List of Fire History Data by Title and Investigator
- Browse, query, and download data from an interactive map via an ArcIMS GIS interface
- Global Charcoal Database
- Tree-ring based fire history File Names and Formats
- Charcoal-sediment based fire history File Names and Formats
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
Other Collaborating Institutions
- University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
- Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, Inc.
- University of Tennessee’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science
- University of Oregon’s Environmental Change Research Group
- Illinois State Museum
- Fire Sciences Lab
- University of Utah’s Earth Change Observatory
- Montana State University’s Department of Earth Sciences
- University of Bern’s Institute of Plant Sciences
- Fire Research And Management ExchangeSystem
Other Fire Resources
Paleolimnology
Paleolimnology is the study of past conditions of inland fresh water bodies. A variety of measurements from lake and bog sediments are used to indicate past water temperature, physical properties, biology, and chemistry. WDC for Paleoclimatology archives Lake Level History, Pollen, and Plant Macrofossil data separately from the Paleolimnological data described on this page. Image at left: Laguna Pallcacocha, Ecuador by Chris Moy |
Search |
Search the Paleolimnology database by author, location, variable, etc.ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download paleolimnological data along with other paleo proxy data. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Paleolimnology Data Search Engine
- Locate and download data from an interactive map via an ArcIMS GIS interface.
- Browse Paleolimnological Data Geographically
- List of Paleolimnological Data by Title and PI
- Search by Author
- Benson and Paillet (2002) HIBAL Hydrologic Isotopic Balance Program
- Diatom Data Sets
- Lake Level Reconstructions
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
Related Science Initiatives
- Biome 6000
- Core Curators Database at NGDC
- Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota
- The International Decade for the East African Lakes (IDEAL)
- Paleolimnology & Diatom Home Pages, Indiana University
- USGS Open-File Report 95-1 (paleoclimatic history of western Utah)
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 15 May 2003 Special Edition, Southern Andes Palaeoclimate
Paleoceanography
Paleoceanography data are derived from many proxies found in deep sea sediments including trace metal and isotopic composition of fossil plankton, species composition, and lithology. The WDC archives data for all times in the past. You are likely to find data relevant to the PAGES and PAGES-CLIVAR timescales in our relational database, while data for older geologic times (more than 1 million years before present) will be found only in the by contributor directory of our FTP site. Coral and mollusk data are archived in their own sub-directories.
Search |
Search data by site name, location, investigator, and date. |
ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download all types of proxy data.Visualizations |
View Visualizations of Paleoclimate Data. |
Obtaining Data at the WDC Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Paleoceanography Search Engine
- Browse, query, and download data from an interactive map via an ArcIMS GIS interface.
- List of Paleoceanography Data by Title and Investigator
- Download Paleoceanography Data
- Search by Contributor
- Related Journals
- Visit The Data Visualizations Page
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- Core Curators Database at NGDC
- Delphi Database
- Marine Geology and Geophysics at NGDC
- Ocean Drilling Program Janus Database
- PANGAEA
- International Marine Global Change Study (IMAGES)
Archiving Agreements
- An agreement with the editors provides for the archiving at the WDC of data published in Paleoceanography. Two Paleoceanography editorials (Volume 9 Number 3, June 1994) discuss Archiving data for Paleoceanography and Archiving data at the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology.
Related Science Initiatives
- International Marine Global Change Study (IMAGES)
- Index to Marine Geological Samples Database maintained by the World Data Center for Marine Geology and Geophysics, which includes many more core samples than those cataloged by the WDC for Paleoclimatology.
Plant Macrofossils
Plant macrofossils are preserved remains large enough to be visible without a microscope. They include leaf, needle, cone, and stem debris, and can be used to identify types of plants formerly growing in the area. Plant macrofossil data provide a valuable complement to pollen and faunal data that can be used to reconstruct the terrestrial environment.
Search |
Search data by site name, location, investigator, and date.WebMapper |
View site locations and information, and download data. (Click on a region o f the map) |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Plant Macrofossil Data Search Engine
- View site locations and information, and download data via WebMapper
- List Data
- Search by Author
- Related Journals
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- North American Plant Macrofossil Database
- North American Packrat Midden Database: Southwest USA and Mexico Packrat Midden Data.
- The INQUA International Union for Quarternary Research
- The Missouri Botanical Garden maintains a searchable database of plant taxonomic information.
- The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of all seed plants.
Fossil & Surface Pollen Data |
Use the Tilia Dictionary Generator to create a Tilia Dictionary for your region of interest based on the pollen-types in the Global Pollen Database. |
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Pollen grains which are washed or blown into lakes can accumulate in sediments and provide a record of past vegetation. Different types of pollen in lake sediments reflect the vegetation that was present around the lake, and therefore the climate conditions favorable for that vegetation. The NOAA Paleoclimatology Program distributes the product of various collaborative efforts to collect and organize pollen records from around the globe. These data include the pollen counts and related information, as well as several different derived data sets. Data archived here were last updated in February 2005. Data contributed since March 2005 are available from PaleoScienceData.net
Contributing Data
Obtaining Data at the WDC
Please Cite Data Contributors!
Data archived here were last updated in February 2005.
Data contributed since March 2005 are available from
PaleoScienceData.net
- Pollen Search Engine
- Download Pollen Data via FTP
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- Bjune et al. 2008 Northern Fennoscandia Counts and Reconstructions, Text or Excel format.
- Gajewski 1988 NE USA LIA Reconstructions
- Nakagawa et al. Lake Suigetsu, Japan Counts and Reconstructions, Text or Excel format.
- Peros and Gajewski 2008 Nunavut, Canada Counts and Reconstructions, Text or Excel
- Viau et al. 2006 North American July Temperature Reconstructions
- Vegetation Mapping for eastern North America
- BIOME 6000 African and European 6K Climate and Surface Reconstructions
- Ray and Adams 2001 GIS-based Vegetation Map of the World at the Last Glacial Maximum
- Williams et al. 2004 Pollen Viewer for Quaternary North America and gridded pollen data.
- Search by Contributor
- Related Journals
Other Data Archives
- African Pollen Database: a tool for all scientists involved in African palynology.
- Base de données polliniques et macrofossiles du Québec at the Université de Montréal.
- Canadian Pollen Database, at the Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, University of Ottawa.
- European Pollen Database: Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia, the Middle East.
- Pollen Monitoring Programme: monitoring pollen deposition across Europe.
- Global Pollen Database: spanning the globe. Updates since March 2005 available from PaleoScienceData.net
- Indo-Pacific Pollen Database: India, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.
- Latin American Pollen Database: Mexico, Central and South America.
- North American Pollen Database: Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the United States.
- The INQUA File Boutique contains newsletters, pollen data programs, and other information on Quaternary pollen research (from the INQUA Commission for Study of the Holocene, Working Group on Data Handling Methods).
- North American Modern Pollen Data: Whitmore et al. 2005.
- North American Packrat Midden Database: Southwest USA and Mexico Packrat Midden Data.
Pollen Database List (GPD-L)
This list provides a forum for discussion of fossil pollen databases and general paleopalynology. To subscribe, send an email message to:
To: [email protected]
From: <your-email-address>
Subject:
Body of message: SUBSCRIBE GPD-L <your-full-name> [e.g. subscribe gpd-l Carolus Linnaeus]
Free Pollen Database Software
Visit NOAA Paleoclimatology Program’s Free Software page to find out about applications such as PaleoVu, MapPad, SiteSeer, and ShowTime.
Other Software
- Tilia and TGView, spreadsheet and diagramming programs for stratigraphic data are available from Dr. Eric Grimm of the Illinois State Museum.
- PALYHELP is a suite of six programs from L.J. Maher, Jr. at the University of Wisconsin. These programs address common statistical questions in palynological and paleoecological research.
Other Places of Interest
- Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology at the University of Ottawa, Canada.
- An Internet Directory for Botany lists resources of interest to botanists.
- The Missouri Botanical Garden maintains a searchable database of plant taxonomic information.
- The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of all seed plants.
Can You Help?
We have some unidentified spores from northwestern Scotland.
Speleothem (Cave Deposit) Data
Speleothems are mineral deposits formed from groundwater within underground caverns. Stalagmites, stalactites, and other forms may be annually banded or contain compounds which can be radiometrically dated. Thickness of depositional layers or isotopic records can be used as climate proxies. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
List of Speleothem Data by Title and Investigator
Smith et al. 2006 500-year Northern Hemisphere Speleothem Temperature Reconstruction
in Text or Microsoft Excel
format.
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Lists of data by region
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Africa
- Holmgren et al. (2003), 25 KYr Cold Air Cave, South Africa Stable Isotope Data, Text or Excel.
- Lee-Thorp et al. (2001), Holmgren et al. (1999), 6500 Year Cold Air Cave, South Africa Stable Isotope Data.
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Asia
- Dykoski et al. (2005) Dongge Cave, China 16,000 Year Oxygen Isotope Data, Text or Excel.
- Kelly et al. (2006) Dongge Cave, China MIS 5/6 Oxygen Isotope Data in Text or Excel format.
- Wang et al. (2005) Dongge Cave, China Holocene Oxygen Isotope Data in Text or Excel format.
- Yuan et al. (2004) Dongge Cave, China 10-16 KYrBP Oxygen Isotope Data
- Hu et al. (2008) Heshang Cave, China Holocene Stable Isotope Data in Text or Excel format.
- Cheng et al. (2006) Hulu Cave, Nanjing, China Penultimate Glacial Oxygen Isotope Data
- Wang et al. (2001) Hulu Cave, Nanjing, China Oxygen Isotope Data
- Tan et al. (2003) ShiHua Cave, Beijing, China Layer Thickness & Temperature Reconstruction
- Li and Hu (1998) ShiHua Cave, Beijing, China Stable Isotope Data
- Bar-Matthews et al. (2003), 250,000 Year Soreq and Peqiin Caves, Israel Stable Isotope Data.
- Vaks et al. (2003), 67,000 Year Ma’ale Efrayim Cave, Israel Stable Isotope Data.
- Fleitmann et al. (2003, 2007) Qunf Cave, Oman 11 KYr Oxygen Isotope Data, Text or Excel.
- Shakun et al. (2007) Moomi Cave, Yemen 27-11 KYrBP Stable Isotope Data, Text or Excel.
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Australia
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Europe
- Constantin et al. (2007) Poleva Cave, Romania Stable Isotope Data, Text or Microsoft Excel
- Drysdale et al. (2005) Antro del Corchia, Italy Oxygen Isotope Data, Text or Microsoft Excel
- Drysdale et al. (2006) Buca della Renella, Italy Isotope, Mg/Ca, Fluorescence, Text or Excel
- Stoykova et al. (2008) Duhlata Cave, Bulgaria Fluorescence Text or Excel.
- Frisia et al. (2003) Grotta di Ernesto, Italy Layer Thickness Data, Text or Microsoft Excel
- Genty et al. (2003) Villars Cave, France Oxygen and Carbon Isotope Data.
- Mangini et al. (2005) Spannagel Cave, Austria δ18O Data and Temperature Reconstruction.
- Proctor et al. (2000) Uamh an Tartair, Scotland 1000 Year Band Thickness and Precipitation Reconstruction
- Proctor et al. (2002) Uamh an Tartair, Scotland 3600 Year Band Thickness Data Text or Excel
- Spötl et al. (2006) Kleegruben Cave, Austria Stable Isotope Data Text or Excel format.
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North America
- Frappier et al. (2002) Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, Belize Carbon Isotope Data.
- Lachniet et al. (2004) Chilibrillo Cave, Panama Stable Isotope Data.
- Lachniet et al. (2004) Venado Cave, Costa Rica Stable Isotope Data.
- Denniston et al. (1999) Cold Water Cave, Iowa Stable Isotope Data
- Stoykova et al. (2008) Cold Water Cave, Iowa Extreme Resolution Luminescence Text or Excel
- Shopov et al. (1996) Cold Water Cave, Iowa Luminescence Text or Excel
- Denniston et al. (1999b) Stable Isotope Data for Spring Valley Caverns and Mystery Cave, Minnesota, and Crystal Cave, Wisconsin.
- Polyak and Asmerom (2001) Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico Band Thickness Data
- Rasmussen et al. (2006) Carlsbad Caverns/Hidden Cave Band Thickness, Text or Excel.
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Pacific Islands
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South America
- Cruz et al. (2005) Botuverá Cave, Brazil Stable Isotope Data.
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
Tree Ring
Diagram of rings… | Extending a chronology… | Bristlecone pine… |
The International Tree-Ring Data Bank is maintained by the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program and World Data Center for Paleoclimatology. The Data Bank includes raw ring width or wood density measurements, and site chronologies (growth indices for a site). Tree-ring measurement series from other parameters are welcome as well. Reconstructed climate parameters, including North American Drought, are also available for some areas. Over 2000 sites on six continents are included.
Search |
Search data by site name, location, investigator, and date.ArcIMS |
View site locations and browse, query, and download tree-ring data along with other paleo proxy data.Visualizations |
View Visualizations of Paleoclimate Data. |
Obtaining Data Please Cite Data Contributors!
- Tree-Ring Search Engine (Search & download data archived through June 30, 2008)
- Download Recent Tree-Ring Data (Contributions received after July 1, 2008)
- Browse, query, and download data from an ArcIMS GIS interactive map.
- WSL Birmensdorf Worldwide Ringwidth and Density Data (Nearly 500 Sites contributed to the ITRDB by Dr. Fritz Schweingruber, available in several formats. These data are included in above listings in decadal format.)
- List of Tree-Ring Data by Title and Investigator
- Tree Isotope Data
- File Formats and Terms
- Update history of the ITRDB
- COFECHA Output (crossdating quality analysis)
- Related Journals
- Visit The Data Visualizations Page
Contributing Data
Other Data Archives
- North American Drought
- Reconstructed Climate Parameters
- International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD)
- DendroDB European Tree-Ring database
Tree-Ring Software
- Dendrochronology Program Library from University of Arizona LTRR
- Lamont-Doherty Tree-Ring Lab Windows & Mac ARSTAN & more
- Introduction to Crossdating created by Dr. Paul Sheppard of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
Other Tree-Ring Resources
- University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
- Cornell University Aegean Dendrochronology Project
- Dendrochronology Species Database
- Bibliography of Dendrochronology
- Multilingual Glossary of Dendrochronology
- Henri D. Grissino-Mayer’s Ultimate Web Pages for Tree Rings and Tree-Ring Research
- Tree Ring FAQ
- Tom Levanic’s Euro Catalogue (Searchable Database of European Tree-Ring Chronologies)
- Wood Anatomy of Central European Species
General Paleoclimatology Data Sets
All data in the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology archive are contributed by research scientists. Contributors and references are available in readme or data file headers. Here is a Sample Data Citation.
The NOAA Paleoclimatology Program distributes archives of a variety of Paleoclimatic proxy data and calibration data sets, plus published reports on a variety of topics. For more details click the README file accompanying the data set.
Contributing Data
Data Archives
- Barrows et al. 2001 Dating of Late Pleistocene Australian Mainland Glaciation
- IAEA/WMO Network of Isotopes in Precipitation
- Correlation of Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scales
- Late Quaternary Ice Extent and Topography
- Phytolith Data
- Radiocarbon Data
- Kaandorp et al. 2005 Peruvian Amazonia Miocene Freshwater Bivalve Data
- Rousseau and Puisségur 1999 MIS 5 French Alps Land Snails Data
- North American Lilac Phenology Data
- Paleoenvironmental ARCtic Sciences (PARCS)
- Circumpolar Arctic PaleoEnvironments (CAPE)