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Just as a single buoy or weather station does not tell us everything we need to know about modern climate variability, one coral core does not explain past global climatic variability. A network of corals from all over the world is required to understand how our climate has changed through time. NOAA and the National Science Foundation are supporting research at universities across the U.S. that are working to establish this network of coral-based climate observations.
![]() Figure courtesy of Dr. Robert Dunbar (Stanford University) and Dr. Julie Cole (University of Colorado). |
ARTS (Annual Records of Tropical Systems), a PAGES (Past Global Changes) /CLIVAR (Climate Variability and Predictability) initiative, involves a network of sites from which valuable instrumental and paleoclimate data can be extracted. Corals, tree rings, and ice cores can all provide annually resolved records which would help to improve our understanding of past and present tropical climate variability. Shown to the left is a prioritized series of cruise transects designed to efficiently sample key features of the tropical and subtropical Pacific. |
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Coral Paleoclimatology website by Heather Benway, NOAA Office of Global Programs, hosted by the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program. Please contact us if you have any comments and/or suggestions. |