Adaptation: The process of adjusting to actual or expected climate changes to minimize harm or exploit beneficial opportunities.
Aerosol: Tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere that can affect climate by scattering and absorbing sunlight.
Albedo: the measure of how much sunlight a surface reflects back into space, with bright surfaces like snow having high albedo and dark surfaces like oceans or forests having low albedo
Ancient DNA: Genetic material extracted from the remains of organisms that lived in the past, providing insights into evolutionary history.
Anthropocene: A proposed geological epoch characterized by significant human impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystems.
Archives of Nature: Natural records, such as tree rings and ice cores, that preserve evidence of past climate conditions.
Archives of Society: Human-created records, like historical documents and artworks, that provide information about past climates and societal responses.
Arctic Dryas: scientifically known as Dryas octopetala, this flowering plant is well adapted to cold temperatures.
Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC): A system of ocean currents that transports warm water from the tropics northward, influencing climate patterns.
Atmospheric Circulation: The large-scale movement of air that distributes thermal energy across the planet, shaping weather and climate.
Bering Land Bridge Theory: The outdated hypothesis that humans migrated from Asia to North America via a land bridge (Beringia) when climatic conditions permitted it after the Last Glacial Maximum.
Beringia: A region including parts of modern-day eastern Russia and Alaska, which formed a land bridge during lower sea levels in the Pleistocene.
Caldera: A large volcanic crater formed by a major eruption leading to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano.
Catastrophism: The theory that Earth’s geological features are the result of sudden, short-lived, violent events.
Climate: The long-term average of weather patterns in a particular region, typically averaged over 30 years.
Climate Change: Significant and lasting changes in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years.
Climate Model: A mathematical representation of Earth’s climate system used to simulate and predict climate behavior.
Cosmic Rays: High-energy particles from space that create isotopes by colliding with atoms in Earth’s atmosphere or surface.
Dansgaard-Oeschger Event: Rapid climate fluctuations occurring during the last glacial period, characterized by sudden warming followed by gradual cooling.
Doggerland: A submerged landmass that once connected Great Britain to continental Europe, now beneath the North Sea.
Dreamtime Narratives: oral stories from Aboriginal Australian cultures, describing the origins of the world and its landscapes, animals, plants, and peoples.
Eemian Interglacial: The last interglacial period before the current one, occurring approximately 130,000 to 115,000 years ago, marked by warmer global temperatures.
Enlightenment: An intellectual movement in 17th- and 18th-century Europe emphasizing reason and individualism over tradition.
Evolution: the gradual change in the inherited characteristics of populations over successive generations.
Feedback: Processes that can amplify or diminish the effects of climate forcings; for example, melting ice reduces surface reflectivity, leading to more heat absorption.
Forcing: An external factor that influences Earth’s climate system, such as volcanic eruptions or greenhouse gas emissions.
Geological Epoch: A subdivision of geological time longer than an age but shorter than a period, characterized by significant developments in Earth’s history.
Geological Period: A span of time in Earth’s history during which specific systems of rocks were formed, marking significant geological or paleontological events.
Glacial Period: A time during an ice age when glaciers advance due to cooler global temperatures.
Great Leap Forward: A term sometimes used to describe a period of rapid development in human cognition and culture, between about 80,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Greenhouse Gas: Gases like carbon dioxide and methane that trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect.
Hawaiian Eruption: A type of volcanic eruption characterized by the effusive emission of highly fluid lava flows.
Heinrich Event: Episodes during the last glacial period when large numbers of icebergs broke off from glaciers and traversed the North Atlantic, affecting oceanic circulation and causing dramatic northern hemisphere cooling.
Holocene: the geological epoch, beginning around 11,700 years ago, marked by relatively warm, wet, and stable global climatic conditions.
Hominid: A member of the biological family Hominidae, which includes all great apes and humans.
Hominin: A subgroup of hominids that includes modern humans and our closest extinct relatives.
Homo denisova (Denisovans): An extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans identified from DNA evidence in Siberia and other parts of Asia.
Homo erectus: An extinct species of hominin that lived throughout most of the Pleistocene, known for being one of the first to use fire and complex tools.
Homo floresiensis: An extinct species of small-statured hominin discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores, nicknamed “Hobbit.”
Homo heidelbergensis: An extinct species of hominin thought to be a common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans.
Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals): An extinct species of hominin closely related to modern humans, known from fossils in Europe and western Asia.
Homo sapiens: The species name for modern humans.
Glacial Period: A time during an ice age when glaciers advance due to cooler global temperatures.
Ice Age: A prolonged period of reduced global temperatures resulting in extensive ice sheets and glaciers covering large parts of Earth’s surface.
Ice Core: A cylindrical sample from an ice sheet or glacier, containing layers that provide records of past climates, and bubbles that are samples of past atmospheres.
Ice Sheet: A mass of glacial ice on land that extends more than 50,000 square kilometers (19,000 square miles).
Interglacial: A warmer period between glacial periods during an ice age, characterized by the retreat of ice sheets.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): An international body assessing science related to climate change to inform policy decisions.
International Commission on Stratigraphy: The organization responsible for standardizing the geological time scale and defining Earth’s stratigraphic units.
Isostatic Rebound: the slow rising of Earth’s crust after the heavy weight of a glacier melts away. It’s similar to how a mattress gradually returns to shape after you get out of bed.
Isotope: Variants of a chemical element with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons, some of which are used to study past climates. Isotopes with fewer neutrons are called light, while those with more are heavy.
Lake Agassiz: A massive glacial lake in North America formed by melting ice sheets during the last deglaciation.
Lakebed Sediment: Material accumulated at the bottom of lakes, used to study past environmental conditions.
Laacher See Eruption: A major volcanic eruption in present-day Germany around 13,000 years ago.
Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): The period during the last ice age when ice sheets were at their maximum extent, about 26,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Late Quaternary Extinctions: A wave of extinctions affecting large animals (megafauna) at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch.
Laurentide Ice Sheet: A massive ice sheet that covered much of North America during the last ice age.
Los Chocoyos: A massive volcanic eruption in Central America approximately 75,000 years ago, leaving significant geological deposits.
Maladaptation: Actions intended to adapt to climate change that inadvertently increase vulnerability to its impacts.
Marine Sediment: Particles accumulated on the ocean floor, providing records of past oceanic and climatic conditions.
Megafauna: Big animals heavier than 99 pounds.
Monsoon: A seasonal wind pattern causing significant changes in precipitation, particularly in South and Southeast Asia.
Molecular Clock: A method estimating the time of evolutionary changes based on genetic mutation rates.
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD): A doctrine of military strategy where full-scale use of nuclear weapons by opposing sides would result in the annihilation of both.
Natural Selection: the process where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and reproduce, passing beneficial traits to future generations.
Noah’s Woods: a name given by fishermen for the landscapes similar to those of the British countryside that are covered by the North Sea.
Oceanic Circulation: Large-scale movement of ocean water that distributes heat and nutrients around the globe.
Outburst Flood: A sudden release of water from a lake or glacier, often causing significant erosion and landscape changes.
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM): A rapid global warming event about 56 million years ago, marked by significant carbon release and temperature rise.
Paleogenomics: The study of ancient genomes retrieved from archaeological and fossil remains.
Parts Per Million (PPM): A unit measuring the concentration of one substance in a million parts of another, often used for greenhouse gas concentrations. The concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere is currently about 420 PPM.
Plinian Eruption: An explosive volcanic eruption marked by its similarity to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Such an eruption can cool the Earth by creating sulfuric aerosols in the stratosphere.
Pleistocene: The geological epoch from about 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago, characterized by repeated glaciations.
Pollen Core: A sample from accumulated pollen grains in sediments, used to reconstruct past vegetation and climate.
Proxy Source: Indirect evidence, such as tree rings or ice cores, used to infer past climate conditions.
Radiocarbon Dating: A method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by measuring the ratio of different carbon isotopes.
Reconnection Event: In environmental research, a process whereby two bodies of water that were once separated come into renewed contact.
Reformation: A sixteenth-century religious movement leading to the establishment of Protestant churches separate from the Roman Catholic Church.
Resilience: The capacity to resist, recover from, and adapt to adverse climate impacts.
Risk: The potential for adverse outcomes resulting from climate change impacts.
Improver: An elite farmer who tried to increase agricultural production, especially in the eighteenth century, using empirical, scientific methods.
Romantic Movement: An artistic, literary, and intellectual movement originating in the late 18th century that emphasized emotion, individualism, and a deep appreciation for nature, often in reaction to the industrial and scientific revolutions.
Scandinavian Ice Sheet: A vast glacial mass that covered much of Northern Europe, including Scandinavia, during the last Ice Age.
Sea Ice: Frozen ocean water that forms, grows, and melts in the sea, playing a crucial role in Earth’s climate and ecosystems.
Scientific Revolution: A period, spanning the 16th to 18th centuries, in which scholars widely adopted the methods of systematic observation, experimentation, and mathematical reasoning, laying the groundwork for modern science.
Storegga Tsunami: A massive tsunami that occurred around 8,200 years ago, caused by the collapse of the continental shelf about 100 kilometers northwest of today’s Norwegian coast.
Teleology: In history, a way of looking at the past that emphasizes linear development and progress.
Tectonic Plate: Large, rigid pieces of Earth’s crust that move on the pasty mantle and interact at their boundaries, lifting up mountains, causing geological activities such as earthquakes, and changing climate.
Uniformitarianism: The geological principle stating that the same natural processes operating in the present have always operated in the past, gradually shaping Earth’s geological features over long periods.
Vulnerability: The degree to which a system, community, or individual is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes.
West Antarctic Ice Sheet: A massive ice sheet covering West Antarctica, significant for its potential impact on global sea levels if it were to melt.
Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis: A controversial theory suggesting that a comet or asteroid impact triggered the Younger Dryas, a sudden return to glacial conditions approximately 12,900 years ago.
The Climate Chronicles 