Climate Clinic:  Paleoclimate

Introduction to Paleoclimatology

READ THE ENTIRE WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE - Wikipedia entry on Paleoclimate

Additional Figures from the IPCC Report (see below)

PERUSE ALL FIGURES - WE WILL DISCUSS THEM IN CLASS FURTHER

Preparation for Class

• What do we mean by the term "Paleoclimatology?"

• Become familiar with "Proxies" that are used to infer past climate conditions.  Understand the nuances of how each are used (i.e. ice cores, sediment cores, tree rings, coral, etc.).

• Have a general understanding of how global temperature has fluctuated over different timescales (the last half a billion years, the Holocene, the Industrial Era, etc.).  Get to know some of the reasons behind these fluctuations through data from climate proxies.

• Understand internal and external forcings to the climate system

• What conclusions can we draw from past climate that can inform us about how the climate will respond to present day forcings?