Greenland: 800,000 Years Of Sudden Climate Change
Thursday, September 8, 2011 - 14:10
in Earth & Climate
What did Greenland look like over the last 800,000 years? Hard to know for sure but one thing is certain; it changed often, and quickly.Drill cores taken from Greenland's vast ice sheets show that Earth's climate is capable of very rapid transitions - more of a mystery is why abrupt climate changes like that happen.Layers of ancient snow accumulated and became compact to form the ice-sheets we see today. Each layer of ice can reveal past temperatures and even evidence for the timing and magnitude of distant storms or volcanic eruptions. By drilling cores in the ice scientists have reconstructed an incredible record of past climates. Those temperature records from Greenland covered only the last 100,000 years or so. read more