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Press Release 06-131
Tree Rings Provide a 200-Year-Old Hurricane Record
Information extends analyses of weather cycles, human impact
September 19, 2006
Scientists have shown that an age-old "database"--tree rings--contains surprisingly accurate information about hurricane activity that occurred hundreds of years ago. By measuring different chemical forms of oxygen present in the rings, researchers identified periods when hurricanes hit areas of the Southeast more than 100 years before modern records were kept.
The technique allows scientists to extend from decades to centuries the time-frames of intense hurricane cycles and may help determine if the increase in the number of hurricanes hitting the Southeast since the mid-1990s is part of a regularly occurring cycle or due to causes such as global climate change.
Their research is being published in the Sept. 18, early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the University of Tennessee (UT).
To read the UT news release, go to http://www.tennessee.edu/news/article.php?id=3833.
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Jay Mayfield, University of Tennessee (865) 974-2225 jay.mayfield@tennessee.edu
Leslie Fink, National Science Foundation (703) 292-5395 lfink@nsf.gov
Principal Investigators
Claudia Mora, University of Tennessee (865) 974-2366 cmora@utk.edu
Co-Investigators
Henri Grissino-Mayer, University of Tennessee (865) 974-6029 grissino@utk.edu
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, its budget is $9.5 billion, which includes $3.0 billion provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,900 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 44,400 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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