Fwd: [Caglist] Monks' diaries aid understanding of 500 years of climate change (Associated Press)

[Tracey P. Lauriault]

Great Open Data!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: >
Date: Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 8:54 AM
Subject: [Caglist] Monks' diaries aid understanding of 500 years of climate change (Associated Press)
To: Canadian Association of Geographers

Monks' diaries aid understanding of 500 years of climate change
The Associated Press

Date: Monday Jan. 17, 2011 12:46 PM ET

LONDON — Centuries-old monks' diaries are helping scientists understand and predict climate change, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that historical written records on weather from the past 500 years broadly match modern computer simulations of European climate patterns.

The findings will help lead to more accurate European climate forecasts in the future, lead researcher Gabi Hegerl said.

"The climate models seem to be working quite well for the past, so we should expect that -- at least when it comes to temperature -- they will do well for the future," Hegerl said.

Scientists looked at harvest records and weather-station archives from the 17th through 19th centuries, but older data were hard to come by. Using European monks' diaries dating back to 1500, scientists looked for evidence about whether the writers experienced warm or cold summers and winters. The monks' musings were then compared to computer simulations for the relevant time periods.

The computer simulations took into account various influences on the weather, such as volcanic activity, variations in the sun's temperature and -- more recently -- an increase in greenhouse gases.

Hegerl said the researchers' findings suggest that greenhouse gases and current human behaviour will "definitely going to shape the climate in a significant and visible way."

The work was carried out in conjunction with academics at Justus-Liebig University of Giessen in Germany and the Universities of Bern in Switzerland and Madrid, Spain. The Natural Environment Research Council, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the European Union also supported the research.

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Tracey P. Lauriault
613-234-2805

http://traceyplauriault.ca/

<input onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)==&#39;function&#39;){jsCall();}else{setTimeout(&#39;jsCall()&#39;,500);}" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

[Glen Newton]

A similar example I use in my Research Data Management for Researchers
 http://www.slideshare.net/gnewton/rdc-m1

"18th century ships' logs used for climate change research"
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/371.htm
"A new partnership between JISC, the University of Sunderland, the Met
Office Hadley Centre and the British Atmospheric Data Centre has
enabled the use of historical naval logbooks  in ground-breaking
research on climate change. The logbooks include the famous voyages of
Charles Darwin's ship, the Beagle, Captain Cook's HMS Discovery and
William Parry's polar expedition in HMS Hecla."

-Glen
http://zzzoot.blogspot.com

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:47 PM, Tracey P. Lauriault
<[hidden email]> wrote:

> Great Open Data!
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: >
> Date: Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 8:54 AM
> Subject: [Caglist] Monks' diaries aid understanding of 500 years of climate
> change (Associated Press)
> To: Canadian Association of Geographers
>
>
> Monks' diaries aid understanding of 500 years of climate change
> The Associated Press
>
> Date: Monday Jan. 17, 2011 12:46 PM ET
>
> LONDON — Centuries-old monks' diaries are helping scientists understand and
> predict climate change, according to a new study.
>
> Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that historical written
> records on weather from the past 500 years broadly match modern computer
> simulations of European climate patterns.
>
> The findings will help lead to more accurate European climate forecasts in
> the future, lead researcher Gabi Hegerl said.
>
> "The climate models seem to be working quite well for the past, so we should
> expect that -- at least when it comes to temperature -- they will do well
> for the future," Hegerl said.
>
> Scientists looked at harvest records and weather-station archives from the
> 17th through 19th centuries, but older data were hard to come by. Using
> European monks' diaries dating back to 1500, scientists looked for evidence
> about whether the writers experienced warm or cold summers and winters. The
> monks' musings were then compared to computer simulations for the relevant
> time periods.
>
> The computer simulations took into account various influences on the
> weather, such as volcanic activity, variations in the sun's temperature and
> -- more recently -- an increase in greenhouse gases.
>
> Hegerl said the researchers' findings suggest that greenhouse gases and
> current human behaviour will "definitely going to shape the climate in a
> significant and visible way."
>
> The work was carried out in conjunction with academics at Justus-Liebig
> University of Giessen in Germany and the Universities of Bern in Switzerland
> and Madrid, Spain. The Natural Environment Research Council, the U.S.
> National Science Foundation and the European Union also supported the
> research.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CAGList mailing list
> [hidden email]
> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/caglist
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tracey P. Lauriault
> 613-234-2805
> http://traceyplauriault.ca/
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.pwd.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss
>

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