The temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time. The most detailed information exists since 1850, when methodical thermometer-based records began. There are numerous estimates of temperatures since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation, particularly during the current Holocene epoch. Older time periods are studied by paleoclimatology. Fig. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) Year 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ... A glaciation (a created composite term meaning Glacial Period, referring to the Period or Era of, as well as the process of High Glacial Activity), often called an ice age, is a geological phenomenon in which massive ice sheets form in the Arctic and Antarctic and advance toward the equator. ... The Holocene epoch is a geological period that extends from the present day back to about 10,000 radiocarbon years, approximately 11,430 ± 130 calendar years BP (between 9560 and 9300 BC). ... Paleoclimatology is the study of climate change taken on the scale of the entire history of the Earth. ...

This image shows the instrumental record of global average temperatures as compiled by the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia and the Hadley Centre of the UK Meteorological Office. ...

The Instrumental Period: from 1850

Main article: Instrumental temperature record

The most detailed information exists since 1850, when methodical thermometer-based records began. See also Temperature record since 1880. The instrumental temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans since the invention of thermometers. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) Year 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The website of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contains detailed data of the annual land and ocean temperature since 1880. ...

Tropospheric temperature (the satellite and balloon temperature records)

Main article: Satellite temperature measurements

Satellites have been measuring the temperature of the troposphere since 1979. Balloon measurements begin to show an approximation of global coverage in the 1950's. Image File history File links Description Main article: Satellite temperature record The last 25 years of surface measurements with various averages and a comparison to El Nino and volcanic forcing. ... Image File history File links Description Main article: Satellite temperature record The last 25 years of surface measurements with various averages and a comparison to El Nino and volcanic forcing. ... Comparison of ground based (blue) and satellite based (red: UAH; green: RSS) records of temperature variations since 1979. ...

Several groups have analyzed the satellite data to calculate temperature trends in the troposphere; RSS find a trend of +0.208 °C/decade while UAH find +0.123 °C/decade; Fu et al finds trends (up to the end of 2004) of +0.19 °C/decade when applied to the RSS dataset; Vinnikov and Grody find +0.22°C to +0.26°C per decade (Oct. 03).

Proxies: tree rings, ice cores: the last 2000 years

Comparison of many reconstructed proxy temperature studies covering last 2000 years

Main article: Temperature record of the past 1000 years

Longer records exist from proxies: quantities such as tree ring widths, coral growth or isotope variations in ice cores. From these, proxy temperature reconstruction of the last 2000 years have been made for the northern hemisphere. [1] [2] However, coverage of these proxies is sparse: even the best proxy records contain far fewer observations than the worst periods of the observational record. Also, problems exist in connecting the proxies (e.g. tree ring width) to the variable of interest (e.g. temperature). Image File history File links 2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison. ... Image File history File links 2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison. ... The temperature record of the past 1000 years describes the reconstruction of temperature for the last 1000 years on the Northern Hemisphere. ... In climate research, a proxy variable is something that is probably not in itself of any great interest, but from which a variable of interest can be obtained. ... Pinus taeda Cross section showing annual rings Cheraw, South Carolina Dendrochronology or tree-ring dating is the method of scientific dating based on the analysis of tree ring patterns. ... Extant Subclasses and Orders Alcyonaria    Alcyonacea    Helioporacea Zoantharia    Antipatharia    Corallimorpharia    Scleractinia    Zoanthidea [1][2]  See Anthozoa for details For other uses, see Coral (disambiguation). ... Ice Core sample taken from drill. ... Proxy may refer to something which acts on behalf of something else as in: Proxy democracy, a bottom-up democracy or delegative democracy Proxy server, a computer network service that allows clients to make indirect network connections to other network services Proxy pattern, a software design pattern in computer programming...

Indirect historical proxies

As well as natural, numerical proxies (tree-ring widths, for example) there exist records from the human historical period which can be used to infer climate variations, often in a less directly numerical way: reports of Frost fairs on the Thames; records of good and bad harvests; dates of spring blossom or lambing; extraordinary falls of rain and snow, and unusual floods or droughts. These too can be used to infer historical temperatures, but generally in a more qualitative manner than the natural proxies discussed above. The Frost Fair of 1814 by Luke Clenell. ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames...

Recent evidence suggests that a sudden and short-lived climactic shift between 2200 and 2100 BCE occurred in the region between Tibet and Iceland, with some evidence suggesting a global change. The result was a cooling and reduction in precipitation. This is believed to be a primary cause of the collapse of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. ([3]) Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་; Wylie: Bod; Lhasa dialect IPA: [; Simplified and Traditional Chinese: 西藏, Hanyu Pinyin: XÄ«zàng; also referred to as 藏区 (Simplified Chinese), 藏區 (Traditional Chinese), ZàngqÅ« (Hanyu Pinyin), see Name section below) is a plateau region in Central Asia and the indigenous home to the Tibetan people. ... The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization complexity and achievement – this was the first of three so-called Kingdom periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the Nile Valley (the...

Paleoclimate

Plot showing the variations, and relative stability, of climate during the last 12000 years

Main article: Paleoclimatology

Many estimates of past temperatures have been made over Earth's history. The field of paleoclimatology includes ancient temperature records. As the present article is oriented toward recent temperatures, there is a focus here on events since the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers. The 10,000 years of the Holocene epoch covers most of this period, since the end of the Northern Hemisphere's Younger Dryas millennium-long cooling. The Holocene Climatic Optimum was generally warmer than the 20th century, but numerous regional variations have been noted since the start of the Younger Dryas. Description Reconstructions of the last 2000 years. ... Description Reconstructions of the last 2000 years. ... Paleoclimatology is the study of climate change taken on the scale of the entire history of the Earth. ... The planet Earth, photographed in the year 1972. ... The Pleistocene epoch (IPA: ) is part of the geologic timescale. ... Austrias longest glacier, the Pasterze, winds its 8 km (5 mile) route at the foot of Austrias highest mountain, the Grossglockner A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. ... The Holocene epoch is a geological period that extends from the present day back to about 10,000 radiocarbon years, approximately 11,430 ± 130 calendar years BP (between 9560 and 9300 BC). ... Three temperature records, the GRIP one clearly showing the Younger Dryas event at around 11 kyr BP The Younger Dryas stadial, named after the alpine / tundra wildflower Dryas octopetala, and also referred to as the Big Freeze [1], was a brief (approximately 1300 ± 70 years [1]) cold climate period following... The Holocene Climate Optimum was a warm period during roughly the interval 7,000 to 5,000 years B.P.. This event has also been known by many other names, including: Hypisthermal, Altithermal, Climatic Optimum, Holocene Optimum, Holocene Thermal Maximum, and Holocene Megathermal. ...

The long term ice core record: the last 800,000 years

Curves of reconstructed temperature at two locations in Antarctica and a global record of variations in glacial ice volume. Today's date is on the left side of the graph

Even longer term records exist for few sites: the recent Antarctic EPICA core reaches 800 kyr; many others reach more than 100,000 years. The EPICA core covers eight glacial/interglacial cycles. The NGRIP core from Greenland stretchs back 5 kyr into the Eemian interglacial. Whilst the large-scale signals from the cores are clear, there are problems interpreting the detail, and connecting the isotopic variation to the temperature signal. Ice Core sample taken from drill. ... Description Expanded record of temperature change since the end of the last glacial period Extended record of climate change during the last 5 Myr This figure shows the Antarctic temperature changes during the last several glacial/interglacial cycles of the present ice age and a comparison to changes in global... Description Expanded record of temperature change since the end of the last glacial period Extended record of climate change during the last 5 Myr This figure shows the Antarctic temperature changes during the last several glacial/interglacial cycles of the present ice age and a comparison to changes in global... Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band which puts emphasis on the use of operatic elements, and death grunts, also performing some song passages in the Latin language. ... Delta-O-18 record from the NGRIP core NGRIP is an abbreviation for the North Greenland Ice Core Project. ... Two ice core temperature records; the Eemian is at a depth of about 1500-1800 meters in the lower graph The Eemian interglacial era (known as the Sangamon interglacial in North America, the Ipswichian interglacial in the UK, and the Riss-Würm interglacial in the Alps) is the second...

Geologic evidence of past temperature changes

Five million years of climate change

Main article: Geologic temperature record

On longer time scales, sediment cores show that the cycles of glacials and interglacials are part of a deepening phase within a prolonged ice age that began with the glaciation of Antarctica approximately 40 million years ago. This deepening phase, and the accompanying cycles, largely began approximately 3 million years ago with the growth of continental ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere. Gradual changes in Earth's climate of this kind have been frequent during the Earth's 4500 million year existence and most often are attributed to changes in the configuration of continents and ocean sea ways. Description Expansion of changes during the recent sequence of glacials and interglacials This figure shows the climate record of Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) [1] constructed by combining measurements from 57 globally distributed deep sea sediment cores. ... Description Expansion of changes during the recent sequence of glacials and interglacials This figure shows the climate record of Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) [1] constructed by combining measurements from 57 globally distributed deep sea sediment cores. ... This article is devoted to temperature changes in Earths environment as determined from geologic evidence on multi-million to billion (109) year time scales. ...

References

• Global average temperature for the last 150 years and discussion of trends
• Preliminary data from the last 2000 years
• Temperature data Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Philip D. Jones and other.
• Hadley Centre: Global temperature data
• NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) — Global Temperature Trends.
• Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the last 2,000 Years