[2] Based on an analysis of the Middle Pleistocene, in the course of which the duration of the various glacial periods increased from 40,000 to 100,000 years, Hoenisch and her co-authors reconstructed the temperature fluctuations and the carbon dioxide concentration over the past 2.1 million years in a study published in 2009 indicating that the current CO2 values are the highest within this comparison period.

[4] She was the lead author of a 2012 study on ocean acidification in Science, collaborating with James Zachos, Ellen Thomas, and others.

But if industrial carbon emissions continue at the current pace, we may lose organisms we care about—coral reefs, oysters, salmon.

"[5] Hönisch received the 2018 Willi Dansgaard Award from the American Geophysical Union in recognition of her "research impact, innovative interdisciplinary work, educational accomplishments (mentoring), societal impact, or other relevant contributions and to acknowledge that the awardee shows exceptional promise for continued leadership in paleoceanography or paleoclimatology."

The award cited her pioneering work in the development and application of geochemical proxies for reconstruction of paleo ocean temperatures, carbonate chemistry, and atmospheric CO2.