A 485-million-year history of Earth's surface temperature

Emily J. Judd, Jessica E. Tierney, Daniel J. Lunt, Isabel P. Montañez, Brian T. Huber, Scott L. Wing, Paul J. Valdes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

A long-term record of global mean surface temperature (GMST) provides critical insight into the dynamical limits of Earth's climate and the complex feedbacks between temperature and the broader Earth system. Here, we present PhanDA, a reconstruction of GMST over the past 485 million years, generated by statistically integrating proxy data with climate model simulations. PhanDA exhibits a large range of GMST, spanning 11° to 36°C. Partitioning the reconstruction into climate states indicates that more time was spent in warmer rather than colder climates and reveals consistent latitudinal temperature gradients within each state. There is a strong correlation between atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and GMST, identifying CO2 as the dominant control on variations in Phanerozoic global climate and suggesting an apparent Earth system sensitivity of ~8°C.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)eadk3705
JournalScience (New York, N.Y.)
Volume385
Issue number6715
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 20 2024
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A 485-million-year history of Earth's surface temperature'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this