Past Climates
From Oceanus Magazine
August 24, 2012
Climate Change Spurred Fall of Ancient Culture
Weakening monsoons in India affected plants and people
December 19, 2011
The Scientist Who Stays Out in the Cold
MIT/WHOI graduate student studies ice in a warming world
December 5, 2008
A Tale of Two Oceans, and the Monsoons
Tiny seafloor shells could reveal big clues to the forces that generate monsoons
March 13, 2008
Knorr Shoots the Moon (Pool) to Drill for Coral
Coral cores offer an unprecedented record of the rise and fall of Earth's sea level
February 29, 2008
New System to Take Long Seafloor Cores Is Ready to Go
Tested at sea, the 'Long Corer' restores U.S. capacity to extract cores up to 45 meters (150 feet) long.
January 9, 2008
Lessons from Nature, Models, and the Past
Other lines of evidence inform the debate on ocean iron fertilization
June 13, 2007
Scientists Unearth Long Record of Past Hurricanes
Digging down in a Caribbean lagoon, researchers go back in time
April 5, 2007
Cell-sized Thermometers
Can the shells of microscopic organisms be used to measure past deep-ocean temperatures?
March 9, 2007
Dead Corals Do Tell Tales
Growing a little each day, coral skeletons keep a daily archive of past ocean temperatures
January 5, 2007
Sunspots, Sea Changes, and Climate Shifts
Does solar activity or ocean circulation—or both—drive changes in the atmosphere?
December 7, 2006
Lakes and Climates Have Their Ups and Downs
A history of water table changes reveals climate shifts and the potential for future drought
November 21, 2006
Ocean Circulation and a Clam Far From Home
Radiocarbon in deep-sea sediments reveals shifts in ocean circulation and climate
November 16, 2006
The Once and Future Circulation of the Ocean
Clues in seafloor sediments link ocean shifts and climate changes
October 27, 2006
What Other Tales Can Coral Skeletons Tell?
Scientists strive to get into the genes of fossil corals to extract their evolutionary history
October 20, 2006
The Coral-Climate Connection
The skeletons of corals on the seafloor preserve records of how ocean circulation has changed
February 28, 2006
Analyzing Ancient Sediments at Warp Speed
New X-ray fluorescence core scanner at Woods Hole reveals clues to Earth's past climate and history
February 17, 2006
An Ocean Warmer Than a Hot Tub
Ocean temperatures once may have reached 107°F. Could they again?
March 22, 2004
How the Isthmus of Panama Put Ice in the Arctic
Drifting continents open and close gateways between oceans and shift Earth's climate
February 23, 2004
Moving Earth and Heaven
Colliding continents, the rise of the Himalayas, and the birth of the monsoons
February 23, 2004
Shifting Continents and Climates
December 1, 1997
Geochemical Archives Encoded in Deep-Sea Sediments Offer Clues for Reconstructing the Ocean's Role in Past Climatic Changes
December 1, 1997
Ground-Truthing the Paleoclimate Record
Sediment Trap Observations Aid Paeoceanographers
December 1, 1996
Sedimentary Record Yields Several Centuries of Data
The Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period in the Sargasso Sea