Discussion Overview
The discussion revolves around the availability and sources of historical temperature data for New York and Greenwich, focusing on both recent recordings (last 10 years) and long-term estimates (up to a billion years). Participants express interest in finding reliable sources for this data, considering the challenges posed by the changing availability of online resources.
Discussion Character
- Exploratory
- Technical explanation
- Debate/contested
Main Points Raised
- One participant seeks temperature recordings for the last 10 years and estimates for the last billion years, noting the difficulty in finding consistent sources due to the transient nature of online data.
- Another participant suggests that obtaining recent temperature data should be straightforward through local meteorological offices, but estimates beyond 150-200 years may be challenging.
- A reference is made to Dana L. Royer's work on radiative forcing during the Phanerozoic, indicating some research exists for long-term climate data.
- A participant recommends NOAA's "Climate at a Glance" for recent data on New York, providing a specific link for access.
- Another participant points to a Wikipedia page as a good starting point for long-term temperature records, although it only covers up to half a billion years.
- One participant shares a link to an archived document related to biogeochemical cycles, suggesting it may contain relevant information on CO2 levels and their correlation with temperature data.
Areas of Agreement / Disagreement
Participants express varying degrees of certainty regarding the availability of temperature data, with some suggesting that recent data is accessible while long-term estimates are more problematic. There is no consensus on the feasibility of obtaining reliable long-term temperature data beyond a few hundred years.
Contextual Notes
Participants acknowledge the limitations of available data sources and the challenges in accessing historical temperature records, particularly for time scales extending back billions of years.