L2- Natural Change

Question 1

Looking into the past

Answer 1

Looking into the past
Two main sources can be used to identify past climate change. These are ice cores and tree rings.
Ice cores allow us to see records over time and there is a link between isotope levels and temperature and scientists can use this to reconstruct temperature records as the isotope levels vary when frozen into the ice.

Question 2

Tree Rings

Answer 2

As trees grow they produce rings. In warmer and wetter conditions growth is wider, and narrower in colder, drier climates. By analysing the rings we can tell what the climate was like through a trees history and as some trees live for a long time this is a fairly accurate way of doing so.
Fossilised trees can also be used.

Question 3

Little Ice Age

Answer 3

Between 1550 and 1800 the UK experienced a little ice age, the temperatures were low enough that the Thames froze and the ice was thick enough for people to walk on the Thames.

Question 4

Historical Sources

Answer 4

Some documents such as personal diaries, paintings and religious records can also be used. The Anglo Saxon chronicles were recorded by English monks from 890 to the middle of the 1100s. They recorded years of drought or heavy rain, they can often be used to cross check against other references to Climate Change.