Using old shipping logs to see if Oceans are warming
MAY 06, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024307
NPR : Sydney Levitus is land-based in Silver Spring, Maryland . But his work frequently transports him—at least figuratively—back to the helms of ships that plied the seas many decades ago. He’s looking at temperature readings from the ship’s logbooks. “The data are priceless because you can’t go back in time, obviously,” Levitus says.And scientists would dearly like to know how the temperature of the seas has changed since humans started adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Most of global warming has actually been warming of the oceans, and it’s been quite a challenge to document that change over the past century. But starting back in 1993, Levitus headed up an international effort to gather whatever historical records he could find.And surprisingly enough, new treasures still come across his transom. Related Link Temperature map of the oceans
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
