Climate Change Over the Last 540 Million Years and Projections of Future Climate Change

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Abstract

According to the results of paleoclimatic studies, the modern stage in the Earth's climate history covers the shortest Quaternary geological period lasting about 3 million years. The question arises about future climate changes after the currently observed warming. There is still no consensus among scientists regarding the explanation of the processes that currently occur in the Earth's climate. The article analyzes climate changes since the spread of complex life forms, i.e. the developed plant and animal life, which started on our planet about 542 million years ago (Phanerozoic eon). Reconstructions of the Phanerozoic temperature based on geological and isotopic data of sedimentology and paleoecology are considered. A comprehensive and quantitative assessment of how global temperatures have changed over the past 540 million years is given. Long-term trends in the climate characteristics over hundreds and tens of millions and thousands of years are considered to understand the climate change after the end of the modern Holocene interglacial period. Some possible approaches to the problem of climate change are discussed to demonstrate the need for an interdisciplinary view.

About the authors

V. A. Dergachev

Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: v.dergachev@mail.ioffe.ru
St. Petersburg, Russia

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