Palaeoclimatology
Palaeoclimatology(orpaleoclimatology) is the study of changes inclimateover the entirehistory of Earth.Modern interest inclimate changehas caused a great increase in the climates of the past.
The climates of the past can only be studied byproxy.Datacomes from studyingrocks,sediments,iceandtree rings,corals,shellsandmicrofossils.These records are used to work out the past states of theEarth's climate and itsatmosphericsystem.
Studies of past changes in the life andecosystemsof the past may throw a light on the present. An example is the effect of climate onmass extinctionsand the recovery of life after those extinctions.[1]
Notable climate events in Earth history[change|change source]
Knowledge of precise climatic events decreases as the record goes further back in time. Some notable climate events:
- Faint young Sun
- Huronian glaciation(~2400 mya Earth completely covered in ice probably due toGreat Oxygenation Event)
- LaterNeoproterozoicSnowball Earth(~600 mya, precursor to theCambrian Explosion)
- Carboniferousrainforest collapse (~300 mya)
- Permian–Triassic extinction event(251.4 mya)
- Oceanic Anoxic Events(~120 mya, 93 mya, and others)
- Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event(66 mya)
- Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum(Paleocene–Eocene,55mya)
- Younger Dryas/The Big Freeze (~11 kya)
- Holoceneclimatic optimum (~7-3 kya)
- Climate changes of 535–536 AD
- Medieval warm period (900–1300)
- Little ice age(1300–1800)
References[change|change source]
- ↑Sahney S. and Benton M.J. (2008)."Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time".Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological.275(1636): 759–65.doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1370.PMC2596898.PMID18198148.