Interglacial Climate Variability

by
Renee Affolter Mary Raney
KIE Developer

This page discusses natural versus human contributed climate variability. It discusses the fact that we are currently in an interglacial period. The previous interglacial period was believed to have had large climate fluctuations. Such dramatic climate changes have coincided with big changes in life on earth including mass extinctions. This may help support the idea that changes which happen in the next 100 years could greatly change the ecosystem. Our current period has actually been quite stable comparatively. In fact, 100 million years ago, in a past interglacial period, the earth was 5 to 15 degrees Celsius warmer than it is today. This is when the dinasaurs roamed the earth. Some scientists believe that the hotter temperatures 100 million years ago were because of the different arrangements of the continents. This is a page full of information about such ideas.