Surface Temperature Interrelationships

Abstract Temperature is a fundamental characteristic of weatherand climate, and its influence on the biosphereis ubiquitous, ranging from controls on rates of chemical reactions to large-scale species distributions. Accurately measuring temperature is therefore critical to understanding how changing temperatures affect life on Earth. Humans long fascination with temperature and weather is undoubtedly rooted in both the importance of temperature as a cue for survival and in observation of the environment. The rhythms and patterns of diurnal and seasonal temperature variations lead to questions about the range of temperatures from daily to seasonal time scales. Temperature extremes segueinto curiosity about the location of the hottest and coldest places on Earth. Traveling through different environments lends itself to inquiry about why temperatures vary between a desert and a forest. While these and many other questions have interested humanity for a long time, figuring out a reliable and consistent way to measure temperature didn’t happen until relatively recently in human history.