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Climate Forcing

Climate forcing data provides information about the way volcanic eruptions, solar variability, trace gases and aerosols, Milankovitch orbital variations, and other factors can affect the climate. These variables, or drivers, contribute to climatic cooling and warming by changing the way energy is distributed within the atmosphere. Aerosol particles produced by volcanic eruptions can cool the climate by reflecting sunlight back into space, while greenhouse gases warm it by absorbing heat energy. Changes in solar intensity affect the amount of energy the Earth receives, and changes in the Earth's orbit around the sun affect the intensity of the seasons. 

Erupting volcano.

Accessing Data at the World Data Service for Paleoclimatology

Search Climate Forcing Data

Search through climate forcing studies by investigator, title, location name, parameters, and latitude/longitude bounds.

Launch Climate Forcing Data Search

Search All Paleoclimatology Data

A free text search of our entire archive.

Launch Paleo Data Search

NCEI Paleo Web Service

Use the NCEI Paleo Web Service to access climate forcing reconstruction study metadata records.

API Documentation

Contributing Data

To contribute to the climate forcing archive, review our instructions for contributing data to determine if your project or collection fits NCEI criteria. Prospective data providers can email paleo@noaa.gov to submit data and study description information.

Other Resources

Additional climate forcing data and information sources: