Speaking to the past
- PMID: 32606312
- PMCID: PMC7326959
- DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-0531-6
Speaking to the past
Abstract
“Speak to the past and it shall teach thee”. I first read those words on a dedication tablet within the John Carter Brown library at Brown University where I was a graduate student. Little did I know the phrase would accurately describe the next three and a half decades of my career. Paleoclimate data are the language we use to look into the past to understand ourselves and ultimately our future.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no competing interests.
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