Abrupt Climate Changes

THROUGHOUT RECORDED HISTORY, and in studies of geological and other records from much earlier periods of the Earth's history, there have been a number of abrupt climate changes. These significant and widespread shifts in climate heavily impacted many parts of the world. Current studies of these changes draw from details revealed from ice core samples, especially from Greenland and northern Canada, and also from records compiled showing signs of geological changes. More recent information has emerged from examinations of the fluctuations in the size of tree rings, and also from historical accounts.

The quantity of these abrupt climate changes has led some academics, often labelled climate change skeptics, to explain the current global warming in terms of these trends. They suggest or state that the current ...