Written to the Earth

Written to the Earth

From the first evidence, climate change occurred in the northern hemisphere. The article’s author describes the formation by describing the three layers that formed the soil and how it was eventually swept away by water. After water levels dropped, the dust which remained was then blown off, leaving an even land. Climate change did occur all at once after the change in the northern hemisphere. Scientists were able to discover similar layers of soil in other players like those of the northern hemisphere. In the article, the author also describes how water inflow carries minerals that form layers that may lead to drought. Climate changes require a scientist to use different soil formations from uranium to oxygen isotope to determine how long the climate has changed. In determining climate change, several land features help determine the climate of the past and can be used by scientists to explain the global picture.

A Record from the Deep

A record from the deep examine ship investigation whose primary purpose is to determine climate changes in the past. The analysis comprises using of ship drilling equipment whose primary goal is to collect remains and fossils. The ship moves around the ocean with a large pipe dug in the mud, which collects different soil layers as the sheep moves. The collection of fossils is to determine how oceans were formed in the past. From the analysis of the fossils collected, scientists can then make an important conclusion on the earth’s past events. The author of the article says that the layers of soil collected represented different elements that dominate the ocean and marine fossils, which were found, explaining the condition of plants and animals that lived in the sea.

The ice core record

To determine climate changes, scientists study snow layers. As described by the author, the scientists dug a snow core that collected different layers of the core over time. The scientists then use the snow to establish the relationship between past climate and the snow. After some time, the scientists dug back the core to collect data up to about 750 thousand years ago. Ice cores here can provide a record of past climate. This because different cores show different years data hence predicting wind patterns during those years. The author of the article then shows how scientists can predict climate change through ice layers. So ice core is one of the methods which provide valuable record regarding climate change over the years.

Climate close up

To determine the amount of rainfall in the US’s southwest, an astronomer uses trees to predict changes in sunlight and rain. Apart from ice core and ocean fossils, scientists can determine climate change by examining trees in the desert basin. Every year, the trees developed different layers resembling rainfall and sunlight of those years. The record can be pulled back to a thousand years to explain climate changes in the area. Trees are then believed to respond to changes in climate and non-climate factors. Through the examination of these factors, scientists can explain the particular climate of previous years.

Explaining the evidence

Climate change of the earth is explained by the amount of ice that existed, shown by sea sediment and the earth shifting orbits. As said by Milankovitch, orbital variations explain ice changes. As explained by Milankovitch, ice changes occurred due to orbital variation in the northern hemisphere. The temperatures received shoe ice changes in those latitudes. The theory of Milankovitch is then combined with sea fossils to show the relationship between water and ice changes. As the ice melted, the level of water in the oceans also rose.

Understanding the past to predict the future

The author of the article describes how the past can change the climate by giving volcano eruptions in the Philippines and how sulfur was released in the sky, changing the stratosphere around the Atlantic. The stratosphere then affected the planetary waves. Changes in the climate show these effects of planetary waves. Data collected then helps scientists in building models which can predict the weather in different areas. Paleoclimatology then helps us understand the past climate to establish the relation with the current to predict the future climate.

References

Riebeek, H. (2006). Earth Observatory. Paleoclimatology. Introduction