New record from stalagmites shows climate history in Central Asia

The climate in Central Asia, currently a semiarid region, has varied over the past 500,000 years. An accurate record of the past climate can help scientists understand current climate and better predict how the climate may ...

Wind can keep mountains from growing

Wind is a much more powerful force in the evolution of mountains than previously thought, according to a new report from a University of Arizona-led research team.

Dinosaurs out in the cold

A major drop in temperature 137 million years ago briefly interrupted the warm, equable climate of the Cretaceous Period. The water temperature in the Arctic Ocean fell from around 13 C to between 4 and 7 C, possibly causing ...

Paleoanthropologist writes 'untold story of our salvation'

Inside caves near Mossel Bay, South Africa, a team of explorers have been piecing together an account of survival, ingenuity and endurance -- of the species known as Homo sapiens. Team leader Curtis Marean, a paleoanthropologist ...

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Paleoclimatology

Paleoclimatology (also palaeoclimatology) is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses a variety of proxy methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously preserved within (e.g.) rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils; it then uses these records to determine the past states of the Earth's various climate regions and its atmospheric system. Paleoclimatology has wider implications for climate change today. Scientists often consider past changes in environment and biodiversity to reflect on the current situation, and specifically the impact of climate on mass extinctions and biotic recovery.

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