Earth's Climate History

Climate Crisis

Paleoclimatologists have used proxy data to learn about Earth's climate history, including evidence of ancient droughts.

Paleoclimatology (British spelling, palaeoclimatology) is the scientific study of climate prior to the widespread availability of records of temperature, precipitation, and other instrumental data, using proxy data to study ancient climates.

Global challenges like air pollution, land-use changes, mining activities, and water scarcity are driving businesses around the world to advocate for a more secure and sustainable future. Simultaneously, they aim to implement effective infrastructure policies, ensuring that natural resource managers and urban ecologists prioritize environmental considerations.

A Demographic & Economic Shift

Gentrification is a demographic and economic shift that displaces established working-class communities and communities of color in favor of wealthier newcomers and real estate development companies.

Gentrification is a process of economic displacement whereby areas of lower socioeconomic status get upscaled and changed by wealthier people moving in, increasing the cost of living, and ultimately displacing lower class residents.[1]

Advancing Climate Solutions | Net Zero By 2050

The Angst of Climate Warming

As the climate crisis continues to displace communities globally, a new form of gentrification has been established known as Climate Gentrification.

Climate gentrification is a form of climate migration where lower-socioeconomic communities are displaced to make way for housing for wealthier populations.

Unfortunately, climate gentrification is just another act of environmental racism harming lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

Environmental racism, also known as ecological racism or ecological apartheid, refers to a form of racism that results in negative environmental outcomes. This includes the placement of landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal sites that disproportionately affect communities of color, violating the principle of substantive equality.

Ice-albedo Feedback

Ice-albedo feedback is a climate change phenomenon in which changes in the extent of ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice affect the planet's albedo and surface temperature. Ice is highly reflective, meaning it reflects significantly more solar energy back into space compared to open water or other land surfaces. This feedback mechanism occurs on Earth and can also be observed on exoplanets.

Coastal flooding and erosion, caused by climate change-induced sea level rise, pose significant threats to low-lying coastal areas worldwide. The African continent, including Ghana, has experienced severe impacts from these hazards, affecting the socio-economic development of coastal communities.

Waterfront properties are now experiencing an increased risk of flooding due to sea level rise, storm surge, heavier precipitation, and stronger hurricane-force winds during landfall.

One example of a community affected by climate gentrification took place in coastal communities in Florida. An article about this states, "Historically, wealthier populations have owned highly desirable waterfront properties and lower income populations have lived on the 'less desirable' land inland and at higher elevation from the coast".[2]

The Catastrophic increase in sea level, already projected to average between 16 and 17 feet around the world, would be almost 21 feet in such places as Washington, D.C., scientists say, putting it largely underwater. Many coastal areas would be devastated. Much of southern Florida would disappear.

Global Warming

“If global warming some day causes the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to collapse, as many experts believe it could, the resulting sea level rise in much of the United States and other parts of the world would be significantly higher than is currently projected, a new study concludes.”

"We aren't suggesting that a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is imminent", said Dr. Peter U. Clark, a professor of Geosciences at Oregon State University.

"But these findings do suggest that if you are planning for sea level rise, you had better plan a little higher."

A climate scientist has stated, "New Zealand is insulated from the worst effects, but warns that climate chaos is already present here."

A senior climate scientist states that New Zealand may be somewhat shielded from the extreme impacts of future weather changes. However, they urge the government to consider the broader implications, including the potential for significant immigration increases.

Victoria University's senior climate scientist, Professor James Renwick, told Afternoons New Zealand's temperate climate meant the country would not be affected as intensely by global warming and associated chaotic weather patterns as other nations, including neighbours Australia.

The planet experienced record-breaking heat in 2023. While experts knew pollution from dirty fuels and El Niño played a role, those factors alone couldn't explain the sudden spike in temperature. Now, a new study in the journal Science reveals that fewer low-lying clouds over our oceans supercharged the warming effect.

Changes in cloud cover may account for why global temperatures for the past two years have exceeded the predictions of climate models. 2023 and 2024 saw temperature records repeatedly smashed, with both years now showing average temperatures around 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.

A new study in the journal Science reveals that fewer low-lying clouds over our oceans supercharged the warming effect12. The combination of a 3-year-long La Niña, followed by a strong El Niño, could account for the unexpected temperature jump3. In 2023, Earth's albedo hit record lows, intensifying warming by 0.2°C due to reduced low-altitude clouds, particularly over the Atlantic2.

When bright, low clouds become scarcer, Earth becomes darker and soaks up more sunlight rather than reflecting as much of it away, explained Helge Goessling, a climate physicist who co-authored the report. This darkening trend has continued since the 1970s, partly because melting snow and sea ice expose darker surfaces underneath.

GENETIC EROSION & POLLUTION ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES

Conservation Letters publishes both empirical and theoretical research focused on the conservation of biological diversity across all marine, terrestrial, and freshwater biomes, ecosystems, and cultural settings.

Global warming, coupled with the silting of the Paraiba River, has led to significant erosion of Atafona's coastline and the destruction of 500 homes, including a four-story building that collapsed near the beach. This situation is just one example of numerous beachside communities along Brazil's 8,500 km Atlantic coastline that are losing their fight against the advancing ocean.

Your open access journal publishes research that advances pragmatic conservation goals and enhances scientific understanding. We provide interdisciplinary perspectives from both the biological and social sciences to help achieve these conservation objectives.