The quantity, variety, and accuracy of
measurements of ancient climates were increasing at a breakneck pace — compared with the data available in the 1970s, orders of magnitude more were now in hand.
To improve our ability to predict the potential impacts of future climate change it is essential that the search for proxy data in new locations with a more comprehensive geographical spread are sought out in order to get a more global picture
of ancient climate with better resolution.
Thomas Hearing said: «We hope that this approach can be used by other researchers to build up a clearer
picture of ancient climates where conventional climate proxy data are not available.»
Ice cores drilled at the Guliya ice cap hold a record
of ancient climate on the plateau that could stretch back nearly a million years.
This talk provides an overview and tour of the findings from Curiosity, featuring spectacular high definition images, tantalizing mineralogical evidence for fresh water, and atmospheric isotopic measurements
indicative of an ancient climate different from today.
Over decades, improvements in observations of the present climate,
reconstructions of ancient climate, and computer models that simulate past, current, and future climate have reduced some of the uncertainty in forecasting how rising temperatures will ripple through the climate system.
Meanwhile important news came from studies
of ancient climates recorded in Antarctic ice cores, retrieved by a French and Russian team from one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.