PAGES (Past Global Changes)
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| PAGES (Past Global Changes) | |
|---|---|
| Name | PAGES (Past Global Changes) |
| Formation | 1991 |
| Type | Scientific network |
| Headquarters | Bern, Switzerland |
| Region served | Global |
| Parent organization | International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme |
PAGES (Past Global Changes) is an international scientific network coordinating research on Earth's past environment to inform understanding of climate change, environmental policy, and sustainability science. It connects paleoenvironmental researchers across institutions such as the University of Bern, the Swiss Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Society, and the Smithsonian Institution to reconstruct past climate variability using proxies from ice cores, tree rings, lake sediments, speleothems, and marine archives. By synthesizing records from regions including the Antarctic, the Arctic, the Amazon Basin, and the Himalayas, it supports assessments relevant to bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and initiatives such as the World Climate Research Programme and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Overview
PAGES facilitates collaborative projects linking researchers at institutions like the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Harvard University, the Australian National University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to address questions about past atmospheric composition, hydrology, and biosphere changes. Its activities draw upon datasets curated by groups such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the British Antarctic Survey, the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and engage stakeholders including the European Commission, the National Science Foundation, and the World Meteorological Organization. Key outputs include synthesis papers, community standards, and data products that inform panels like the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and programs such as Future Earth.
History and Organization
Founded in 1991 under auspices similar to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme and with connections to the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, PAGES evolved through partnerships with centers such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Geological Survey of Canada. Organizational structures include an international Scientific Steering Committee with members from the Royal Society, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, as well as working groups coordinated at secretariat offices linked to the University of Bern and collaborating with consortia like the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program and the International Ocean Discovery Program.
Research Themes and Projects
PAGES sponsors thematic initiatives covering intervals and topics led by researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, ETH Zurich, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Edinburgh. Themes include Holocene variability studied by teams associated with the Natural History Museum, London, the University of Tokyo, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry; last millennium reconstructions involving groups around the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; and deglaciation and paleoglaciology projects partnering with the Scott Polar Research Institute, the University of Copenhagen, and the Alfred Wegener Institute. Cross-disciplinary projects link paleoclimate, paleoecology, and paleoceanography researchers from the Smithsonian Institution, University of Oslo, University of São Paulo, University of Cape Town, and National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Methods and Data Networks
Analytical methods promoted include stable isotope analysis used by teams at the Paul Scherrer Institute and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, radiocarbon dating practiced at the University of Oxford and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, and dendrochronology coordinated with the International Tree-Ring Data Bank and researchers at the University of Arizona. Data networks and synthesis products connect to archives and programs such as the PANGAEA, the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology, the Neotoma Paleoecology Database, and the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, and draw on field campaigns conducted with partners like the British Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey. Modeling collaborations link paleo data to simulations from centers like the Hadley Centre, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
Contributions and Impact
PAGES has contributed multi-proxy reconstructions cited in assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and its community standards inform reporting used by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Its datasets and syntheses underpin research published in journals and outlets associated with the American Geophysical Union, the European Geosciences Union, Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Collaborative outputs have influenced paleoclimate interpretations relevant to events like the Younger Dryas, the Medieval Climate Anomaly, the Little Ice Age, the Last Glacial Maximum, and regional studies across the Sahara, the Mekong River, and the Patagonian Ice Fields.
Governance and Funding
Governance involves an international steering committee with representatives from organizations such as the Swiss National Science Foundation, the European Research Council, the National Science Foundation, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and works with institutional partners including the University of Bern and the Future Earth secretariat. Funding sources have included national research agencies like the German Research Foundation, philanthropic foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and programmatic support from the World Climate Research Programme and the International Science Council.