One of the big issues with climate change is finding good data. Without good data going into the models, how can you expect anything but garbage to come out of them. Much of the US surface data comes from the US Historical Climate Network (USHCN). The network is made up of 1221 small weather stations which have been in place for up to (and in some cases over) 100 years. These should provide the necessary data.
Should. Unfortunately a lot can change in 50 or 100 years. Unfortunately in that time many of these stations have been encroached upon by structures, parking lots, and industrial equipment. How useful is a temperature sensor that is next to an air conditioning unit, cell phone tower, or a parking lot? Not very. Should the USHCN be examining these structures to assess possible errors? Probably, but paying someone to examine 1221 sites across the country wouldn't be cheap. Instead they're doing statistical analysis to try to mitigate any errors created in the system.
Surfacestations.org is a group organizing volunteers to do hands-on surveys of all the USHCN stations. All you need to do this is a tape measure, a digital camera, a fairly inexpensive (~$100) GPS unit, and the instructions. Delaware has 5 stations: Newark, Wilmington, Dover, Milford, and Greenwood. I have a tape measure and digital camera, but I guess its time to put a GPS unit on my useful items.
Via Kim du Toit
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