As the Royal Navy chugged into the far-flung waters of World War I, diligent sailors recorded the time, position, temperature, and wind – every four hours, even while under fire! Most of these handwritten logs survive, and the Old Weather project is digitizing them to fill the gaps in our historical climate data:
The problem? Computers get confused by modern handwriting, much less the swooping script of the early-Twentieth-century Englishman. The solution? Helpful people like you. In the mood for some high-seas adventure? Cruise over to Old Weather, view their tutorial, pull up a page from a ship’s log, and transcribe it, today!