Long-Term Observation Insights
The Keeling Curve Foundation provides Insights into long-term observations (LTOs). Read on to learn more about applications of LTOs in various fields of cutting-edge research, their contribution to permanent earth-based datasets that reveal changes over time, and their use in climate solutions and policy.
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Coupling Historical Proxy Data with Instrumental Records in the Great Barrier Reef Reveals Highest Ocean Heat in 400 Years | Henley et al. 2024
The recent paper by Henley et al. 2024 provides a comprehensive analysis of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Coral Sea over the past four centuries, highlighting the unprecedented ocean heat levels recorded in recent years. The study, widely featured across news headlines in August 2024, utilized a combination of instrumental SST observations and coral-derived temperature proxy data to reconstruct historical SSTs from 1618 to 1995. The findings reveal that the January - March Coral Sea heat extremes in 2024, 2017, and 2020 (in order of descending average SST anomalies) were the highest in the 400-year record, surpassing the 95th-percentile uncertainty limit of pre-1900 temperature reconstructions.