How do we measure our planet’s global mean temperature, and compare it to a record dating back hundreds of thousands of years, a comparison central to discussions about climate change? Jordan R. Raney’s description of the ingenious but impaired proxy measures from tree rings to coral reefs are meant to encourage skepticism for some of the more extreme claims that have been made. Unfortunately, we still need to make decisions about climate change, however incomplete, uncertain the data we have is. In fact, that is the challenge.
Taking the Earth’s Temperature
How do we measure our planet’s global mean temperature, and compare it to a record dating back hundreds of thousands of years, a comparison central to discussions about climate change? Jordan R. Raney’s description of the ingenious but impaired proxy measures from tree rings to coral reefs are meant to encourage skepticism for some of the more extreme claims that have been made. Unfortunately, we still need to make decisions about climate change, however incomplete, uncertain the data we have is. In fact, that is the challenge.