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Future Forecasts
Instruments such as rain gauges and thermometers allow a high degree of accuracy in measuring current weather conditions. In looking at past climate using paleo proxies such as tree rings and ice cores there is some degree of uncertainty in terms of how accurate the natural recorder is of the actual conditions at the time. Likewise, in forecasting the future, there are unknowns and uncertainties that scientists frame in terms of probability. Yet, communicating probability without using numbers is not easy. A statement such as "a high likelihood of drought conditions" is often translated as "there will certainly be a drought" in the media. One question that many people
are concerned with is whether or not global warming is occurring and
what the consequences will be. We know from current research that the
surface temperature of the Earth is warming, having risen by .6 degrees
Celsius over the past 100 years. (See Whitehouse
Press Release, June 2001). It is also known from ice core records
from Lake
Vostok in Antarctica that carbon dioxide emissions, primarily from
the combustion of fossil fuels, are at the highest levels in over 400,000
years. Instrumental
records, while increasingly detailed and comprehensive, are often limited
to the past 100-150 years, and paleoclimate data enriches our understanding
of climate change by providing a longer term perspective of what is "normal"
or "average" in terms of climatic range and variability. Through
the Climate TimeLine's Data Access it is possible
to access instrumental data of your region of interest as well as examine
paleoclimate reconstructions for an overview
of recent centuries' climate variability. Also see A
Paleo Perspective on Global Warming and Global
Warming: Early Warning Signs from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Image
from the NOAA
Photo Library
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http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/future.html Downloaded Monday, 22-Sep-2008 01:08:59 EDT Last Updated Friday, 07-Oct-2005 12:25:59 EDT by paleo@noaa.gov Please see the Paleoclimatology Contact Page or the NCDC Contact Page if you have questions or comments. |