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Standing Committee

Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

The issues addressed by BASC are at the forefront of contemporary concerns. BASC's interests include advancing methodologies and technologies for supporting weather and climate science, improving understanding and prediction of weather and climate variability and related impacts on society, understanding atmospheric composition and chemistry, facilitating research on interactions between the atmosphere and land, ocean, and cryosphere, improving understanding of atmospheric and climate sciences and helping make this understanding relevant to national needs.

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News and Updates

Paleoenvironmental Data 101: Using Earth’s Past to Prepare for the Future

Announcement

While data collected by modern instruments can provide information on decades of Earth’s extreme events, paleoenvironmental data found in natural archives such as ice cores and tree rings can extend that record by hundreds, thousands, or millions of years into the past. Drawing on a new National Academies report, this interactive webpage offers an introduction to different paleoenvironmental archives and how they are being used to develop a deeper understanding of disasters in the past and plan for a more resilient future.

May 4, 2026
Rock core samples at the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland.

Used on the cover of: A Synthesis Center for Paleoenvironmental Records of Extreme Events

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