Climate Forcing Data

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.

  Orbital Variations, 5,000,000 Years, Berger and Loutre 1991

  Integrated Summer Insolation, 5,000,000 Years, Huybers 2006

  Orbital Variations, -50 to +20 MYrs, preliminary, Laskar et al.(from IMCCE)

  
  

• 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

  
  

• 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

  
  

• 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

  
  

• 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

  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

  
  

• 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

Lasker et al. 2004 Astronomical Solutions (preliminary), -50 to +20 MYrs (from IMCCE)

Insolation Calculators and Visualizations

Peter Huyber plots and visualizations

Berger 1978 fortran program and related data (insol.f)

NASA GISS programs

Analyseries calculator, plotting, and analysis