Lecture: Winds of Change – Mining Climate Clues from Whaling Ship Logbooks with Dr. Timothy Walker and Dr. Caroline Ummenhofer

Dr. Timothy Walker, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and oceanographer Dr. Caroline Ummenhofer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, highlight how weather records contained in ship logbooks from American whaling voyages can be used to assess shifting wind and weather patterns. A treasure trove of unexploited ship logbooks spanning the period 1790 to 1910 exists in several New England archives, such as the Nantucket Historical Association, New Bedford Whaling Museum, Providence Public Library, and Falmouth Historical Society. The logbooks, often covering multi-year voyages to some of the most remote waters around the globe, contain systematic daily weather observations, such as wind strength/direction, rainfall, and cloudiness. Our results demonstrate that the historical records provide an important long-term context for changing wind and weather patterns over the world’s oceans, lacking observational records during the 18th-19th centuries. We will discuss challenges and opportunities for climate research through data rescue and digitization of these under-utilized historical ship logbooks.

Free, Registration Required