Evidence for Climate Change Long term trend in climate detected by sustained shift in average value for any

climatic element Short term climate change- last few decades (overall rise in temp) Medium term climate change- last few thousand years- evidence from poems, diaries, photos Long term climate change- millions of years ago- most evidence from ice cores Ice cores- each layer records a season of snowfall Evidence for long term climate change Evidence How it works Reliability CO2 in ice cores Bubbles trapped in ice core CO2 sequences correlate well from Greenland and Antarctica. so suggests its reliable Low CO2 concentration in cold periods and high concentration when warmer Oxygen 16: Oxygen 18 In cold periods, oxygen 16 Correlation with CO2 levels is Oxygen isotope in ice core and evaporated easier (less dense) good making it reliable ocean sediment cores so ice cores enriched with more oxygen 16 than 18 showing colder periods Records ecology of past. Rely on good preservation of Pollen extracted from sediment Shows that ecosystems pollen. Sequences are rate and cores in peat bogs and lake changed in past in response to vegetation may lag behind beds. climate change. climate change- by the time, they adapt, climate changed again

Evidence for medium term climate change Historical records Sources purpose wasnt to Analysing photos, paintings, record climate so must be used graphs with care and are usually local so hard to generalise Tree rings which are sensitive Accuracy is good but its to light, temperature, Wide rings reflect good growing localised and is difficult to precipitation conditions whilst thin reflect determine relative importance climate stress of factors affecting width of Some specimen go back 4,500 rings years Retreating glaciers Glaciers grow and shrink in response to climate. Tracked by old photos, paintings, maps, direct measurements Before 1880, patchy records but after reliable records