British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Environmental Science Glossary - Proxy data definition

Definition: We have no direct way of measuring historical events such as when global climate changes occur over time, eruptions of volcanoes or flooding. So we use other things instead that are an indirect method of measurement. For example, tree rings, coral reefs. Coral reefs can provide information about rates of sea level change (salt level and temperature) in the past. We can use the proxy data to predict what happened in the past.