Climate and Climate change.
Climate archives and proxy records.
Data and Models.
Plate tectonics and long-term climate.
From “Greenhouse” to “Icehouse” climates.
Orbital-scale climate change.
Millennial to sub millennial oscillations of climate.
Focus on the climate during the Quaternary.
Climate changes of the Mediterranean area.
Historical and future climate change.
The Anthropocene.
Climate and sustainability.
Ruddiman W. F. (2008). Earth’s Climate Past and Future, second edition, W.H. Freeman and Company New York.
John, K. S., Leckie, R. M., Pound, K., Jones, M., & Krissek, L. (2012). Reconstructing Earth's climate history: inquiry-based exercises for lab and class. John Wiley & Sons. (Capitoli 1, 5, 13 e 14).
Bradley, Raymond S. (1999). Paleoclimatology: reconstructing climates of the Quaternary. Elsevier.
Cronin, T. M. (2009). Paleoclimates: understanding climate change past and present. Columbia University Press.
Material included in the lectures (powerpoint, articles) in E-learning platform.
Learning Objectives
The course presents an overview of the main methods used to reconstruct the history of the earth's climate and the techniques useful for defining the times of environmental changes. The course aims to make students discover the paleoclimatic recording preserved in natural archives such as ice cores or tree growth rings, highlighting its unique feature linked to the possibility of providing a longer perspective on climatic variability than that obtainable from instrumental or historical registers. Particular emphasis will be given to climate changes during the late Cenozoic of the Mediterranean area.
In summary, the course provides methodological and scientific knowledge on causes, modalities and time of natural climatic changes on the Earth by the study of the geological record (natural archives) and with respect to the future climatic changes including their impact on the environment
At the end of the course students should be able to:
• Integrate complex data for summary palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.
• Correlate several biological and physical-chemical data.
• Understand the applicability and potential of the main palaeoclimatic analyses for future research activities or professional carriers.
This will also allow students to:
• read and critically evaluate the scientific literature
• Understand and communicate how paleoclimatic information can be used in the context of projections of future climate change.
Prerequisites
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Teaching Methods
Lectures in the classroom, and online with multimedia content integration and seminar activities.
Ongoing learning: student-instructor interaction and student-student interaction.
Further information
Frequency of lectures, practice and lab: attendance is highly recommended, but not mandatory; attendance is expected at least 2/3 of practical classes and at lab classes as well. The latter will be carried out both in the classroom and online (prevalently) as well as on the field (consistent with the current situation COVID).
Possible excursion to be confirmed in accordance with anti-COVID standards:
Burano lake - Orbetello lagoon: sampling methods and climatic analyses in transitional Holocene deposits. Evaluation of the anthropic impact.
A seminar activity (on Applied Paleoclimatology: palynology, pollen, spores, dinocysts, NPP, Climatic Quantifications) in collaboration with foreign colleagues is also scheduled (probably both in presence and on-line).
Type of Assessment
Oral test: the student needs to answer some questions related to the topics covered in the course. The critical capacity on palaeoclimate issues will be also evaluated.
Course program
OVERVIEW ON PALEOCLIMATOLOGY: climate and climate change; the components of the climate system, forcings, responses, feedbacks.
CLIMATE ARCHIVES AND PROXY RECORDS: marine and terrestrial sediments (with focus on loess, travertines, calcareous tufas and speleothems), ice sheets; corals, dinocysts, tree rings, ice cores, phytolites, packrat middens, pollen, isotopes, ...
PHYSICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL MODELS: basic concepts.
TECTONIC SCALE CLIMATE CHANGE: CO2 and long-term climate. Plate-tectonics and long-term climate: Polar Position hypothesis, Tectonic control of CO2 input: BLAG spreading-rate hypothesis. Tectonic control of CO2 removal: Uplift weathering hypothesis.
“GREENHOUSE” CLIMATE: what explains the warmth at 100 Ma? Sea level change and climate. The hyperthermic events.
FROM GREENHOUSE TO ICEHOUSE: the last 50 Ma (ice and vegetation), oxygen isotopes, Mg/Ca, ...). Paleogeographic changes and cooling effects. (“Gateway Hypothesis”, CO2 changes: BLAG spreading, Uplift).
PLIOCENE WARMTH: are we seeing the future? Mid-Piacenzian warm period.
ORBITAL SCALE CLIMATIC CHANGE: orbital parameters (precession, axial tilt and eccentricity), orbital-scale interactions, feedbacks. Insolation and its control of monsoons and ice sheets.
NORTHERN EMISPHERE GLACIATION AND THE QUATERNARY CLIMATE: characteristics and possible causes of glaciation during the Cenozoic. Glacial-interglacial cycles (from 40 to 100 ka).
MILLENNIAL OSCILLATIONS OF CLIMATE: examples from Greenland and Antarctica ice cores, plus Nord Atlantic sedimentary cores. Bond cycles, Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events.
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND CLIMATE (outline): the role of volcanism.
Are there connections between the EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD AND CLIMATE? (outline): examples from the geological record.
THE MEDITERRANEAN: circulation dynamics, climate change and current status of marine ecosystems.
OCEAN-ATMOSPHERE COUPLING, ocean circulation and impact on the European climate. AO, NAO, AMO, ENSO.
HISTORICAL AND FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE: Climate and human evolution, human impact, historical records, climate changes since 1000. Global warming and future climatic change.
ANTHROPOCENE: natural vs human-induced climate changes.
CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABILITY: what the paleoclimate teaches about the problems related to resilience, prevention, mitigation and adaptation?