Kick-off workshop for TIMES initiative

On geological timescales, the Earth's climate is constantly changing, but occasionally environmental changes significantly disrupt the climate and atmosphere. Although scientists have developed a range of techniques to date such disturbances to within 10,000 years of their occurrence, science has so far struggled to standardize data collection and analysis across the many regions of the world. Data gaps hinder scientists' ability to fully understand the history of our home planet.

The initiators, including Westerhold and meeting host Jennifer Kasbohm, see the project as an opportunity to overcome challenges by bringing disciplines and institutions together under a common scientific vision, which was outlined during the four-day meeting with a timeframe of five to ten years. Their work built on last December's publication of “Timing Is Everything,” a white paper that appeared in the American Geophysical Union's journal Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, which outlined the need for such a common understanding.