The PAGES 2k Network: Status update on Phase Three projects

The past 2000 (2k) years provide critical context for the recent anthropogenic forcing of the climate, and baseline information about natural climate variability. This period is also key to evaluate the climate models used to make future projections.

Phase 3 of the PAGES 2k Network aims to address questions articulated around the themes "Climate Variability, Modes and Mechanisms", "Methods and Uncertainties" and "Proxy and Model Understanding". Research is organized as a network of projects, identified and led by 2k community members.

We present the ten current projects that have been established by the PAGES 2k Network community and summarize their scientific objectives:

- ARAMATE investigates the mechanisms of ecosystem variability in the North Atlantic region using annually resolved marine and terrestrial climate archives.

- CLIM-ARCH-DATE combines new absolutely-dated marine proxy archives with other dating techniques to determine the relative and absolute timing of cultural and environmental events in the past.

- MULTICHRON investigates multidecadal climatic signals in North Atlantic sclerochronological records.

- CLIVASH2k studies large scale modes of climate variability and the mechanisms and drivers of climate change in Antarctica, the sub-Antarctic and the wider Southern Hemisphere.

- CORALHYDRO2k investigates tropical ocean hydroclimate and temperature from coral archives.

- ISO2k is building a water isotope database to study hydroclimate at decadal to centennial-scales, as well as possible secular trends.

- PALEOLINK aims at developing new downscaling strategies that allow the linking of coarse Earth System Model simulations with local climate reconstructions.

- PSR2k studies Ocean modes by combining marine proxy records and the output from isotope-enabled and traditional GCM simulations.

- The two projects "Global Mean Surface Temperature Reconstructions" and "Global Temperature Climate Field Reconstruction" use the new PAGES 2k temperature database to reconstruct global temperatures using several state-of-the-art reconstruction techniques.

If you would like to participate in PAGES 2k, one of its projects, or receive updates, please join our mailing lists or contact one of the coordinating committee members.

PAGES 2k website: http://www.pastglobalchanges.org/ini/wg/2k-network