Recent climate warming — cause?
Human greenhouse gas emissions drive recent warming.
Greenhouse gases — role?
Trap infrared radiation, cause greenhouse effect.
Quaternary cycles — definition?
Glaciation and interglacial periods over last 2.6 million years.
Ice core isotopes — proxy for?
Past temperatures via δ18O ratios.
Milankovitch cycles — influence?
Orbital variations affecting insolation and climate.
Tectonic activity — climate effect?
Alters ocean currents, CO₂, and mountain uplift.
Cenozoic cooling — trend?
Gradual global temperature decrease over last 66 million years.
Mesozoic climate — evidence?
Warm, high CO₂, tropical fossils at high latitudes.
Paleozoic glaciations — timing?
Late Paleozoic, notably Carboniferous-Permian, with extensive ice sheets.
Carboniferous-Permian — climate?
Cooler, with widespread glaciation due to reduced CO₂.
Ice core — key data?
Isotope ratios, trapped gases, and particulate records.
δ18O — indicates?
Past temperature and ice volume.
Milankovitch cycles — components?
Eccentricity, obliquity, precession.
Tectonics — long-term climate?
Influences CO₂, ocean currents, and mountain uplift.
Cenozoic cooling — cause?
Tectonic uplift, decreased CO₂, orbital variations.
Mesozoic climate — evidence?
Warm, greenhouse conditions, high sea levels.
Paleozoic glaciations — evidence?
Glacial deposits, δ18O data, high albedo.
Carboniferous-Permian — climate?
Cooler, extensive glaciations, reduced greenhouse gases.
Ice cores — resolution?
Decades to millennia, depending on depth.
Milankovitch effect — mechanism?
Modulates solar radiation, triggers climate feedbacks.
Answer 10 questions on Earth's Climate History and Cycles.
1. What does ice core isotope analysis primarily measure to reconstruct past climate conditions?
2. During which geological period did the significant glaciation event known as the Carboniferous-Permian glaciation occur?
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