Paleoclimate Data for Studies of Global Climate Change and Earth System Science

Abstract

Paleoclimate data are scattered by region and discipline and paleoclimate-related studies are being conducted in many subject areas. Sources of paleoclimate data include tree-rings, lake and bog sediments, ice cores, marine sediments, and historical records. Diverse paleoclimate data of various time scales need to be assembled into global data bases to validate climate models and support studies of processes governing climate change.

A program in paleoclimatology has been implemented at the U.S. National geophysical Data Center (NGDC), the goals of wich are (1) to acpuire paleoclimate data bases from all disciplines and time scales and integrate these into a global data base, and (2) to cooperate with national and international science programs in the use of these data to better understand and model climate change.

Cooperation to build paleoclimate data bases is needed between national and international science organizations, funding a gencies, and data centers.