The understanding of weather patterns and global climate change over time is crucial for the development of models needed to predict future climate trends. With the ominous potential threats related to climate change, it is essential that our understanding of the Earth's atmosphere and weather is based on as much data-driven information as possible. In particular, to understand climate patterns and trends, more reliable historical data allows more robust climate models to be constructed. Temperatures from the late 1800s to now have already been collected and digitized in a sufficient quantity to give researchers a base of information with which to estimate temperature changes over roughly the last 150 years. However, since modern thermometers were invented in 1714, information from the prior 150 years exists in various forms, but as of now has been untapped for researchers. Digitizing and using this information with appropriate adjustments could then roughly double the amount of years of direct information available to understand our changing climate.

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