It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

1998/04/24 by P. D. Jones · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · Mathematics · #Tree-ring climate responses #Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics #Climate variability and models #Mathematics

paper · doi:10.1126/science.280.5363.544

openalex publication_date 1998/04/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23

Abstract

A slight warming trend has been observed in global temperature data over the last century, but is it caused by human activity? This important question is discussed in the Research Commentary by Jones, who looks at a recent reconstruction of the temperature trend since 1400 made with several high-resolution records by Mann et al . of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Such reconstructions are a start toward resolving the debate over human impact on climate.

Citations

• Global-scale temperature patterns and climate forcing over the past six centuries
• Was there a ?medieval warm period?, and if so, where and when?
• Central England temperatures: Monthly means 1659 to 1973

Cited by

• Temperature trends over the past five centuries reconstructed from borehole temperatures
• Hockey stick graph (global temperature) [wikipedia]