Climatic Proxies: 
Clues from the Natural World

The recent period of meteorological observations with thermometers and rain gauges does not begin to record the full range of possible changes of climate in the long term; therefore it is important to obtain records (or “proxies”) from the natural world that can be interpreted in terms of climate or the state of the earth's environment at past times. 

The subspecialty of paleoclimatology is largely concerned with bringing together various sources of estimation of past climates, including models and proxy estimates from field studies, to provide the most consistent estimates of the past climatic environment at particular places and times.

CPEP researchers conduct field work across the country and abroad to collect paleoclimatological and paleoecological proxy data to use in conjunction with models of past climate as well as archaeological and historical investigations.  Field and laboratory methods used by CPEP scientists include collection and measurement of pollen, diatoms, charcoal, cladocera, and testate amoebae, from peat and lake sediments, marcofossils, soil analysis, and dendrochronology (tree rings).  Other field work is part of collaborative research with marine geologists, geologists, paleoecologists, and archeologists at other institutions.

Current CPEP proxy study locations

Research Projects:

Climate Change in the Neolithic Transition on Zealand (Denmark)

• Anthony Ruter, Nanna Noe-Nygaard (Geological Institute - University of Copenhagen)

Development of Peatland Archives of Past Climate Variability

• Bob Booth, Steve Jackson (University of Wyoming), E. Pendall (University of Wyoming), Y. Huang (Brown University)

Response of Mesic Forest Trees to Centennial-Scale Climate Variability

• Bob Booth, Steve Jackson (University of Wyoming), E. Pendall (University of Wyoming),  Y. Huang (Brown University)

Abrupt Climate Change 4200 Years Ago: Spatial Pattern and Mechanism

• Bob Booth, Sara Hotchkiss, Steve Forman (University of Chicago-Illinois), Steve Jackson (University of Wyoming), John Kutzbach.

Climate and Environment at the Illinoian Glacial Maximum in the Central US

• Samantha Kaplan, David Grimley (Illinois State Geological Survey).