Do we really know the surface temperature or CO2 concentration of the past?

Limitations and uncertainties in climatological proxies... The messy truth climate alarmists don't want you to know about.

Climatological proxies…

One of the main challenges of studying climate change is to reconstruct the past variations of CO2 levels and temperatures, which can help us understand the natural and human factors that have influenced the Earth’s climate over time. However, direct measurements of CO2 and temperature are only available for the recent period, since the invention of reliable instruments and methods. For older periods, we have to rely on indirect or proxy methods, which use natural archives or indicators that preserve information about the past climate and atmosphere.

Different proxy methods have different advantages and disadvantages, depending on their availability, accuracy, resolution, and timescale. Some of the most commonly used proxy methods for measuring past CO2 levels and temperatures are:

• Ice cores: Ice cores are long cylinders of ice that are drilled from glaciers and ice sheets in polar regions or high-altitude mountains. They form from the accumulation and compaction of snow over many years, sometimes up to hundreds of thousands of years. Each layer of ice represents a different year or season, and contains information about the climate and atmosphere of that time. For example, the temperature, precipitation, dust, volcanic ash, sea salt, and pollen can be inferred from the physical and chemical properties of the ice. One of the most important pieces of information that ice cores provide is the concentration of CO2 in the past atmosphere. However, due to their slow formation process, they provide low-resolution and continuous records of CO2 and temperature for up to 800,000 years.

  

  Source: https://www.compoundchem.com/2017/08/15/ice-cores/

• Tree rings: Tree rings are growth patterns of trees that reflect their annual or seasonal response to environmental conditions. They form from the difference in cell size and density between the light-colored earlywood (formed in spring) and the dark-colored latewood (formed in summer). By counting and measuring the width and density of tree rings, scientists can estimate the age, growth rate, and health of trees. Tree rings can also provide information about temperature, precipitation, drought, fire, volcanic eruptions, and human activities over long periods of time and at high resolution. Tree rings are one of the most widely used sources of information about past climate that we have. They can provide regional records of temperature and precipitation for up to 2,000 years.

  

  Source: https://digdays.org/dendrochronology-or-tree-ring-dating/

• Corals: Corals are marine organisms that build hard skeletons of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in warm tropical and subtropical waters. They form colonies or reefs that grow by adding new layers of skeleton on top of older ones. Corals can live for hundreds or thousands of years, depending on their species and environmental conditions. Corals can provide information about temperature and nutrients in the tropical ocean by analyzing their skeletal structure and chemistry. For example, the ratio of oxygen isotopes in coral skeletons is related to sea surface temperature (SST) and salinity; the ratio of strontium to calcium (Sr/Ca) is also related to SST; and the concentration of trace elements such as boron or uranium is related to ocean acidity (pH). Corals can also provide information about solar activity by analyzing their carbon-14 content. Corals are one of the most important sources of information about past tropical ocean conditions that we have and in some cases can provide high-resolution records of SST, salinity, pH, nutrients, and solar activity for up to several thousand years.

  

  Source: https://usa.oceana.org/blog/friday-infographic-rise-and-fall-coral-reef/

• Palesols: Paleosols are ancient soils that have been preserved in the geological record. They can provide valuable information about the past climate, vegetation, and land use of the Earth. Paleosols can also help us understand how the Earth’s surface has changed over time due to processes such as erosion, deposition, weathering, and pedogenesis. Paleosols form when soil horizons develop in response to environmental conditions such as temperature, precipitation, biota, and parent material. However, paleosols are not always continuous or representative of the original soil profile, because they may be subject to various processes that may alter or destroy them over time. Paleosols can provide information about different timescales and regions, depending on their availability and preservation.

  

  Source: https://the-earth-story.com/post/162707886000/paleosols-youve-heard-of-the-atmosphere-the

• Plant Stomata: Plant stomata are microscopic pores on the surface of leaves that allow plants to exchange gases with the atmosphere. They are essential for photosynthesis, the process by which plants use light energy to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into oxygen and carbohydrates. Stomata also regulate the loss of water vapor from plants, which affects their water balance and transpiration. Plant stomata are sensitive to various environmental factors, such as light, temperature, humidity, and CO2 concentration. There is a negative correlation between stomatal density (the number of stomata per unit area) and CO2 concentration: higher CO2 levels lead to lower stomatal density, and vice versa. Plant stomata can provide a more accurate and reliable record of past CO2 levels than ice cores, because they can capture short-term fluctuations and regional variations that ice cores may miss or smooth out.

  

  Source: https://evolution.berkeley.edu/teach-resources/stomata-3-of-3-indicators-of-co2-and-temperature/

These are some of the main proxy methods for measuring past CO2 levels and temperatures at different timescales. There are also other proxy methods, such as sediments, loess, speleothems, and biomarkers, that can provide additional information about past climate and environment. By combining multiple sources of evidence and using rigorous methods and techniques, scientists can reduce uncertainties and increase confidence in their reconstructions.

However, this is all subject to the limitations and uncertainties of these techniques.

Uncertainties and limitations…

Uncertainties and limitations are important in science because they help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of our knowledge and methods. They also help us improve our scientific inquiry and communication. Uncertainties and limitations are not flaws or failures in science, but rather opportunities and incentives for learning and growth. They are essential for advancing science and expanding our understanding of the world. However, they usually complicate the simple narrative pushed by the MSM.

Let’s take a look at the uncertainties and limitations of some of the proxies mentioned above.