Abrupt Climate Change

Earth's climate has changed many times and in many different ways over geologic history. These changes have most often played out over many thousands of years.
Today, however, human activity—primarily in the form of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere—is putting slow, inexorable pressure on the planetary system that governs Earth's climate. This is raising concerns that the climate could respond in abrupt and unexpected ways, shifting temperature or precipitation patterns in ways that may make it difficult for human society to adapt.
News Releases
Study reveals Missoula Floods impact on past abrupt climate changes
Following the Fresh Water
Extinction of Neanderthals Was Not a Climate Disaster Scenario
Fine-tuning the Steps in the Intricate Climate Change Dance
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WHOI in the News
More Than 11,000 International Scientists Declare Climate Emergency
Extreme ice melt in Greenland threatens coastal communities across the world, scientists warn
Climate Change Is Hitting Home, And It’s Not Fair
In New TV Fare, National Geographic Sustains Its Climate Focus
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From Oceanus Magazine
Will Climate Change Affect the Greenland Ice Sheet?
Getting to the Bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Greenland—the world’s largest island—is also home to one of the world’s largest ice sheets (after Antarctica). If Greenland’s two-mile-thick ice…
Ocean Circulation and a Clam Far From Home
In my first year of graduate school, I was stumped by a big question on my final exam in biological…
The Coral-Climate Connection
Are the climate changes we perceive today just part of the Earth system’s natural variability, or are they new phenomena…
Fresher Ocean, Cooler Climate
Large and climatically sensitive regions of the North Atlantic Ocean have become less salty since the late 1960s, a trend that could alter global ocean circulation and spur climate changes by the 21st century.