paleoclimatology

The study of prehistoric climates. Records of past climates are found in sedimentary rocks, in cores taken through deep layers of ice, and in fossil-bearing cores from the beds of seas and lakes. From such evidence, climatologists have discovered that the Earth is subject to alternate periods of cold, called glacials or ice ages, abd warmth, called interglacials. During the last two million years there have been 17 ice ages.

Related category

• GEOLOGY AND PLANETARY SCIENCE

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Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
Encyclopedia of History

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