Climate Analysis On Climate Archives - 1612 Words

There is significant evidence from studies based on climate archives that the Earth’s climate about 10 000 years ago was very different from the present climate; it has changed a lot since the last glacial period which ended about 10 000- 12 000 years ago (Chappell, 1998). Hence, about 10 000 years ago the Earth was buried under ice sheets and it was much cooler than present temperatures (see Figure 1, Appendix) (Chappell, 1998). The Earth that has been cycling between cold and warm climates for ages and is currently in the interglacial period where it has slowly become warmer along with a rise in sea level (Watts, 2009). There are many climate archives which can help scientists study past climates and their development over time. Climate†¦show more content†¦Corals were first discovered about 200 million years, however most have grown over the last 10 000 years. Therefore, corals are great climate archives to use in order to study the climate from the last 10 000 yea rs. Corals also have a wide array of climatic history stored within them (Introduction: Coral Reefs, 2015). They have a long lifetime and rapid growth which makes them ideal climate archives for studying the past climate (Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics, 2015). Along with the corals there is the foraminifera; also referred to as sea floor fossils. These sea floor fossils are often found in sediment cores and can reveal a variety of things about the past climate through ocean currents, temperature and oxygen ratios. Also these fossils are the most common source of paleoceanographic proxies, making them easily available (Kucera, 2007). Hence, foraminifera or sea floor fossils are an ideal climate archives for studying the past climate from about 10 000 years ago alongside corals. Information about the past climate can not only help us understand our present climate but can also help predict our future climate trends. Corals, which are one of the climate archives been discussed, are living organisms who produce a calcium carbonate skeleton to make themselves look like rocks. The calcium carbonate bands found in corals help form permanent records of seasonal and annual climate changes. Corals are a type of biotic proxy; which are proxies based on the