Changing Climates

Changing Climates

1. Climate Change in the Distant Past

   • There are cycles between glacial and interglacial periods
     • The glacial-interglacial cycle last approximately 100,000 years.
     • Temperatures vary by approximately 10 degrees
   • As carbon dioxide levels rise, so does the temperature.
   • Evidence
     • Fossilised animals no longer in the UK
     • Fossilised pollen and plants no longer in the UK
     • Landforms left by glaciers
     • Samples of Ice Sheets using Carbon Dioxide to estimate past temperatures.

2. Climate Change in the Recent Past

   • The Roman Warm Period: 0-401 AD
     • A hot and dry climate
     • Temperatures rose by 2 degrees
     • Vineyards grew in the UK
   • The Dark Ages: 401-990 AD
     • Cold and wet climate
     • Crops failed so famine spread
     • The Dark Ages caused the temperatures to be -1 in comparison to the rest of the world
   • The Medieval Warm Period: