Paleoclimatology

            Paleoclimatology, in short, is the study of past climates.  According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) it is, “the study of climate prior to the widespread availability of records of temperature, precipitation, and other instrumental data” (NOAA, 2008).  These studies are preformed as a means to help establish a range of prior natural variation in the climate, before there was any recorded human influence.  The last few thousand years is what the NCDC has been particularly interested in.  This is due to the fact that it is the ‘best dated’ and sampled part of the climatic records that we have (NOAA, 2008).

            A variety of ‘proxy’ records are used to estimate past climate condition.  Proxy records are preserved in things such as coral reef skeletons, glacier and ice cap ice cores, lake and ocean sediments, and tree rings (NOAA, 2008).  Other proxy data includes historical, fossil pollens, fire history, and caves (NOAA, 2013).  Historical Data includes logs from farmers and travelers, coral skeletons reveal oxygen and traces of metals, pollen fossils show what kind of plants were growing, tree rings show influence by climate conditions, sediments show different fossils, and ice cores can show different air bubbles (NOAA, 2002).  All of these can show different interpretation of past climates in an area.

Sources:

NOAA. "Paleoclimate Data." National Climate Data Center. NCDC, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleoclimate-data>.

 NOAA. "What is Paleoclimatology?." National Climate Data Center. NCDC, 20 Aug. 2008. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. <www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/primer.html>.

NOAA. "Paleo Proxy Data." National Climate Data Center. NCDC, 18 July 2002. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. <www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/primer_proxy.html>.