Climate warming over the last 24000 years

Climate warming over the last 24000 years

Subject – Environment

Context – Scientists have reconstructed Earth’s climate since the last ice age, about 24,000 years ago. The study, published in Nature, suggests that current temperatures are unprecedented in 24,000 years.

Concept –

• The main drivers of climate change since the last ice age are rising greenhouse gas concentrations and the retreat of the ice sheets.
• The study suggests a general warming trend over the last 10,000 years, settling a decade-long debate in the palaeoclimatology community about whether this period trended warmer or cooler.
• The magnitude and rate of warming over the last 150 years far surpasses the magnitude and rate of changes over the last 24,000 years.