Paleoclimates: Understanding Climate Change Past and Present

The field of paleoclimatology draws on extensive empirical observations obtained from physical, chemical, and biological proxies preserved in natural archives. These include glacial ice, tree rings, sediments, corals, and stalagtites and stalagmites, which reconstruct patterns and interpret causes of past climate change. From ocean sediment coring expeditions to multi-year ice sheet coring programs, paleoclimatologists go to great lengths to test the numerous theories and hypotheses concerning the causes of earth's climate.

This book reviews state-of-the art paleoclimate research covering all geological timescales, with an emphasis on the implications of past climate changes for modern trends in earth's climate. The text is geared specifically towards advanced undergraduate and graduate students and researchers within and outside of the immediate field of paleoclimatology. Thomas M. Cronin covers empirical paleo-records in significant detail, including detailed discussions of discoveries made over the last decade and their relationship to pressing controversies about climate change.

More than 3,000 citations and 150 graphics make this text the most comprehensive, up-to-date synthesis of paleoclimatology available, each chapter featuring short summaries of landmark papers that caused paradigm shifts in the field.