On May 4, 1700 the town of Salamanca made prayers to the Virgen de la Vega for rain. This fact, apparently just reached the category of historical anecdote may be part of a line almost unexplored climate research: the historical record. Miguel Angel Fuertes, scientist in the Department of Geology at the University of Salamanca, has followed this trail in the records of capiturales chapter of the Cathedral of Salamanca, a faithful witness of all types of incidents, including weather.
“The idea is to obtain paleoclimatic data from different sources,” says Miguel Angel Fuertes. “Recent data from high resolution,” ie less spaced in time that they can provide other data, such as looking at marine sediments his new roommate.
To do this, ideally you have data of temperature or atmospheric pressure taken with instruments, but are only reliable from the mid eighteenth century, so “if we try to study long-term changes in climate, we need information that goes beyond” explains the expert.
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