Radiocarbon (¹⁴C), as a consequence of its production in the atmosphere and subsequent dispersal through the carbon cycle, is a key tracer for studying the Earth system. Knowledge of past ¹⁴C levels improves our understanding of climate processes, the Sun, the geodynamo, and the carbon cycle. Recently updated radiocarbon calibration curves (IntCal20, SHCal20, and Marine20) provide unprecedented accuracy in our estimates of ¹⁴C levels back to the limit of the ¹⁴C technique (~55,000 years ago). Such improved detail creates new opportunities to probe the Earth and climate system more reliably and at finer scale. We summarize the advances that have underpinned this revised set of radiocarbon calibration curves, survey the broad scientific landscape where additional detail on past ¹⁴C provides insight, and identify open challenges for the future.

中文翻译：

---

放射性碳：研究地球发电机、气候系统、碳循环和太阳的关键示踪剂

放射性碳 ( ¹⁴ C) 作为其在大气中产生并随后通过碳循环扩散的结果，是研究地球系统的关键示踪剂。过去¹⁴ C 水平的知识提高了我们对气候过程、太阳、地球发电机和碳循环的理解。最近更新的放射性碳校准曲线（IntCal20、SHCal20 和 Marine20）在我们对¹⁴ C 水平的估计中提供了前所未有的准确度，回到了¹⁴C 技术（约 55,000 年前）。这种改进的细节为更可靠、更精细地探测地球和气候系统创造了新的机会。我们总结了支持这套修订后的放射性碳校准曲线的进展，调查了广泛的科学领域，其中过去¹⁴ C 的更多细节提供了洞察力，并确定了未来的开放挑战。