1. Discovering Past Climates
9.1

2. Paleoclimatology paleoclimatologists study past climate
weather records only go back a few hundred years; to look at older data, special tools are used…
Image from:
Cool website…this page explains what paleoclimatology does.

3. Tree Rings dark wood in summer, light wood in spring
thin rings in dry & hot conditons; thick rings in wet & cool conditions
can show evidence of floods, droughts, insect attacks, lightning strikes, etc.
Image from:

4. Megadrought
Image from:
Narrow rings from 1560’s-1590’s indicate megadrought

5. Hurricanes Strengthening?
Image from:

6. Ice Cores
examining layers of snow & ice that can date back to years ago
Have a look at this video about ice cores taken in the British Antarctic Survey
Video link:
Images from Greenland drilling:

7. What is in the ice?
Type of particles give clues about events that happened as well as vegetation
Physical characteristics of the ice indicate temperature & humidity conditions when the ice was formed
Composition of trapped air bubbles show atmospheric conditions when ice was formed
Image from:

8. Composition of Ice
concentrations of isotopes (oxygen-16 and oxygen-18) in water indicate temperature at time of ice formation
more 18O indicates higher temperatures
Image from:

9. Sedimentary Rock
formed by yearly deposits of rock fragments…accumulate in thick layers on ocean floors & become compressed and hardened over many years
Image from:

10. Core Samples pollen can indicate vegetation & climate
composition of shells (isotopes) can determine temperature
fossils determine which living organisms were present & this indicates specific climate conditions
Image from:

11. Varves annual sedimentary deposits in glacial lakes
light (summer) & dark (winter) layers
Image from:

12. Final Words… NOAA Paleoclimatology Data page…if you’re interested!
video of a NOAA paleoclimatologist, explaining what kinds of data can be collected (including coral samples)
Link:
Video link: