Disciplines

Paleoclimatology

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Climate Science

Citation Formats

General Reference

Earth and Environment Atlas. "Paleoclimatology." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-earth.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/paleoclimatology.

APA Style

Earth and Environment Atlas. (n.d.). Paleoclimatology. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-earth.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/paleoclimatology

BibTeX

@misc{earthandenvironmentatlas-paleoclimatology,
  author = {Earth and Environment Atlas},
  title = {Paleoclimatology},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-earth.interactiveatlas.org/disciplines/paleoclimatology},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

The scientific study of climates predating the invention of meteorological instruments, reconstructed from proxies preserved in rocks, sediments, boreholes, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils. Because instrumental records span only a tiny part of Earth's history, its reconstructions of the frequent glaciations, of rapid coolings like the Younger Dryas and of rapid warmings like the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum anchor the understanding of natural climate variation and of the current warming.

Facts

Central Question

What were Earth's climates before instruments existed to measure them, and what do those past states say about natural variation? 1

Scope

Paleoclimatology reconstructs past climates using proxy evidence, ice cores, tree rings, ocean sediments and cave formations, that record temperature and precipitation before instrumental records began. 1

Significance

Paleoclimatology provides the long baseline against which modern, human-caused climate change is measured and calibrates the models used to project its future course. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections