Description

Paleoclimatology has been integrated with the Climate Change Data and Detection element. The instrumental and satellite record of climate variability extends back in time about 130 years, and is therefore not long enough to define the full range of natural climate variability. For this reason, NOAA implements a Paleoclimatology program that is tightly focused on using geological and biological records of past climate change to understand the complete patterns, processes and causes of natural interannual to century-scale climate variability. By tapping climate information contained in corals, tree-rings, ice-cores, sediments, and other sources, Paleoclimatology is coordinating international activities to extend NOAA's long-term record of global climate change back millennia. This work has already provided examples of climate system behavior that are not visible in the short instrumental record, but are clues to what might happen in the future. Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) will use this information to evaluate the performance of their predictive models. The millennia-long records of natural climate change will be used to detect and understand recent environmental change.

Links

Paleoclimatology Program at the National Climatic Data Center