History of climate variability and change

human-caused changes to climate on Earth

period of long-term reduction in temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere

international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

period of cooling that occurred after the Medieval Warm Period, usually defined as between the 14th (or the 16th) to the 19th centuries

widespread and rapid decrease in the amount of life on earth

time of warm climate in the North Atlantic region lasting from c. 950 to c. 1250

mass extinction event at the end of the Ordovician period and the beginning of the Silurian period in the Paleozoic era, around 444 million years ago

mass extinction at the end of the Triassic

all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events

The period starting about 1645 and continuing to about 1715 when sunspots were exceedingly rare

rapid (in geological terms) global warming, profound changes in ecosystems, and major perturbations in the carbon cycle which started about 55.0 million years ago

Shortening of glaciers by melting of their ice in warmer locations

mass extinction event, starting at the end of the Frasnian age of Upper Devonian around 372 million years ago

sudden decrease in global temperatures that occurred c. 6200 BCE; defines the end of the Greenlandian age and start of the Northgrippian age in the Holocene epoch

first of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of north European climatic phases

Period of low solar activity from 1790 to 1830

North Atlantic ice rafting events

warm period during roughly the interval 9,000 to 5,000 years BP

effort to scientifically ascertain mechanisms responsible for recent global warming and related climate changes on Earth

discrepancy between past temperatures and the amount of incoming solar radiation

Hypothesized period of low solar activity from 1460 to 1550

rapid climate fluctuation in the last glacial period

warm weather period, 250 BC to AD 400

hypothesis that climate change can trigger a release of methane buried in seabeds which leads to runaway warming

Holocene climate period during which Africa was wetter than today

mass extinction event; occurred approximately 488 million years ago

phase dividing the Quaternary period

term in chemistry: long-term transformation of silicate rocks to carbonate rocks by weathering and sedimentation, and the transformation of carbonate rocks back into silicate rocks by metamorphism and volcanism

extinction event; occurred ca. 305 Ma at the end of the Moscovian in the Carboniferous; altered the vast coal forests that covered the equatorial region of Euramerica, fragmenting them into ‘islands’, causing dwarfism and extinction of many species

period

In geology and climatology, a pluvial is either a modern climate characterized by relatively high precipitation or an interval of time of variable length, decades to thousands of years, during which a climate is characterized by relatively high precipitation or humidity. Subdivisions of a pluvial, which are characterized by relatively high precipitation, are known as a subpluvials. Formally, pluvials were equated with glacial stages of the Quaternary. However, pluvials, as in equatorial regions, can also occur during interglacial stages. No lower latitudes have experienced major pluvials in ea

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opposing climate states on Earth

average temperature of the Earth's surface

period

episode of cooling in the climate history of the Earth

alt=|thumb|Greenland ice sheet temperatures interpreted with 18O isotope from 6 ice cores (Vinther, B., et al., 2009) The neoglaciation ("renewed glaciation") describes the documented cooling trend in the Earth's climate during the Holocene, following the retreat of the Wisconsin glaciation, the most recent glacial period. Neoglaciation has followed the Hypsithermal or Holocene Climatic Optimum, the warmest point in the Earth's climate during the current interglacial stage, excluding the global warming-induced temperature increase starting in the 20th century. The neoglaciation has no well-mar

glacial period

period of global warming that occurred around 54 Ma

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The Neopluvial was a phase of wetter and colder climate that occurred during the late Holocene in the Western United States. During the Neopluvial, water levels in a number of now-dry lakes and closed lakes such as the Great Salt Lake rose and vegetation changed in response to increased precipitation. The event was not exactly synchronous everywhere, with neopluvial lake-level rises occurring between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. It is correlative to the Neoglacial period.

part of the Pliocene Epoch

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