A Breeze from the Past: Uncovering climate clues from whaling ship logbooks

A Breeze from the Past: Uncovering climate clues from whaling ship logbooks

Caroline C. Ummenhofer1 and Timothy D. Walker1,2

1Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA;

2Department of History, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA, USA

Bringing together oceanographer Dr. Caroline Ummenhofer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Dr. Timothy Walker, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, our project examines the use of weather recordings contained in American whaling voyage logbooks to assess changes in climate and weather patterns. We focus on unexploited caches of archival documentation, namely U.S. whaling logbooks of voyages spanning the period 1790 to 1910 from New England archives housed by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Nantucket Historical Association, and Providence Public Library. The logbooks, often covering multi-year voyages around the globe, contain systematic daily weather observations (e.g., wind strength/direction, sea state, precipitation).

In historical climate research, long datasets are invaluable for establishing baseline weather and climate conditions, against which changes can be assessed. Yet pre-19th century instrumental data are sparse, especially over the ocean. We showcase how descriptive, qualitative weather recordings from New England whaling ship logbooks can be transferred to quantitative data to compare against modern, instrumental data. We also highlight how we can then use the novel data to assess long-term shifts in wind patterns around the world, such as long-term shifts in position and strength of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies, variations in the North Atlantic subtropical winds surrounding the Bermuda (or Azores) High pressure system, or strengthening of the Pacific equatorial trade winds since the 19th century. Our results demonstrate that the historical records provide an important long-term context for changing maritime wind patterns in remote ocean regions lacking observational records during the 19th century.

$20 Non-Members/$10 Members. Light refreshments served. Ticket sales go towards supporting our Nautical Narrative Initiative to use our historic whaling logs to trace historic weather patterns.

Biographies:

Dr. Caroline Ummenhofer received a Joint Honours B.Sc. in Marine Biology and Physical Oceanography from Bangor University, UK, and a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of New South Wales, Australia, specializing in climate modeling. In 2012, she took up a faculty position in the Physical Oceanography Department at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA, following postdoctoral appointments in Australia. Her research focuses on the ocean’s role in climate, particularly on the water cycle and extreme events, such as droughts and floods, and their impact on human and natural systems, including marine heatwaves. Her applied research bridges the gap between ocean and climate dynamics and its impacts on end users. As such, she aims to provide practical outcomes of use to stakeholders and the broader public. She has participated in showcasing scientific findings through art-science collaborations at museum exhibits about marine heatwaves and the oceanic water cycle, and provided educational resources on extreme weather for K-12 schools serving students around the world.

Dr. Timothy Walker, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is a scholar of maritime history, colonial overseas expansion, and trans-oceanic slave trading. Walker is a Guest Investigator of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, drawing historic climate data from archived whaling logbooks, Portuguese colonial, and other maritime documentation. Walker is a contributing faculty member of the Munson Institute of Maritime Studies, and Director of the NEH “Landmarks in American History” workshops series, titled “Sailing to Freedom: New Bedford and the Underground Railroad” (2011–2022). In 2020, Walker was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to serve on the Schooner Ernestina/Morrissey Advisory Board, where he is the chair of the Educational Programming Committee.

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