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Abstract There is a growing need for past weather and climate data to support science and decision-making. This paper describes the compilation and construction of a global multivariable (air temperature, pressure, precipitation sum, number of precipitation days) monthly instrumental climate database that encompasses a substantial body of the known early instrumental time series. The dataset contains series compiled from existing databases that start before 1890 (though continuing to the present) as well as a large amount of newly rescued data. All series underwent a quality control procedure and subdaily series were processed to monthly mean values. An inventory was compiled, and the collection was deduplicated based on coordinates and mutual correlations. The data are provided in a common format accompanied by the inventory. The collection totals 12452 meteorological records in 118 countries. The data can be used for climate reconstructions and analyses. It is the most comprehensive global monthly climate dataset for the preindustrial period so far. 

Electrochemically deposited copper nanostructures were coated with silver to create a plasmonically active cathode for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) reduction. Illumination with 365 nm light, close to the peak plasmon resonance of silver, selectively enhanced 5 of the 14 typically observed copper CO 2 reduction products while simultaneously suppressing hydrogen evolution. At low overpotentials, carbon monoxide was promoted in the light and at high overpotentials ethylene, methane, formate, and allyl alcohol were enhanced upon illumination; generally C 1 products and C 2 /C 3 products containing a double carbon bond were selectively promoted under illumination. Temperature-dependent product analysis in the dark showed that local heating is not the cause of these selectivity changes. While the exact plasmonic mechanism is still unknown, these results demonstrate the potential for enhancing CO 2 reduction selectivity at copper electrodes using plasmonics.