Palaeoclimate articles from across Nature Portfolio

Palaeoclimate is the reconstruction and study of past climate states on Earth and other planets. Climate parameters such as precipitation, temperature, wind strength, and patterns of interannual climate variability are frequently estimated from proxies in ice and sediment cores, tree rings, cave deposits and historical records. These are assessed in numerical models.

Latest Research and Reviews

Research
25 March 2023 | Open Access

Atmospheric CO₂ forcing on Mediterranean biomes during the past 500 kyrs

A 500 kyr long record of vegetation change from SE Europe demonstrates that forest resilience is lost when precipitation decreases below a threshold limit, and highlights the vulnerability of Mediterranean forests to near-future climate change
- Andreas Koutsodendris
- , Vasilis Dakos
- & Jörg Pross
Nature Communications 14, 1664
Research
23 March 2023 | Open Access

State-dependence of Cenozoic thermal extremes

Multi-millennial hyperthermal events, such as the Palaeocene-Eocene thermal maximum, are more likely to occur when the baseline temperature is higher, according to an application of extreme value theory to Cenozoic foraminifera proxy records
- B. B. Cael
- & Philip Goodwin
Communications Earth & Environment 4, 88
Research | 23 March 2023

Dampened predictable decadal North Atlantic climate fluctuations due to ice melting

Meltwater discharge to the mid-Holocene North Atlantic disrupted decadal climate variability, suggesting future melting on Greenland may hinder climate predictability in the region, according to an annually laminated lake-sediment record and transient model simulations.
- Celia Martin-Puertas
- , Armand Hernandez
- & Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Tovar
Nature Geoscience, 1-6
Research
23 March 2023 | Open Access

A gradual change is more likely to have caused the Mid-Pleistocene Transition than an abrupt event

A gradual change in the climate system such as a decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide is more likely to have caused the Mid-Pleistocene Transition than an abrupt event, suggest model simulations constrained by a global ice volume reconstruction over the past 2 millions years.
- Etienne Legrain
- , Frédéric Parrenin
- & Emilie Capron
Communications Earth & Environment 4, 90
Research
20 March 2023 | Open Access

Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic’s last ice area during the Early Holocene

Marine sediment proxies for sea ice suggest that a shift to seasonal sea ice in the Lincoln Sea during the Early Holocene was related to warmer air temperatures, similar to those projected to occur under anthropogenic warming.
- Henrieka Detlef
- , Matt O’Regan
- & Christof Pearce
Communications Earth & Environment 4, 86
Research
18 March 2023 | Open Access

The PaleoJump database for abrupt transitions in past climates
- Witold Bagniewski
- , Denis-Didier Rousseau
- & Michael Ghil
Scientific Reports 13, 4472

All Research & Reviews

News and Comment

Editorial | 11 October 2022

A changing Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau is a dynamic environment, with geological, surface and climatic processes interacting across timescales. This Focus issue highlights the complex evolution of the region, from its geological origins to projected changes under anthropogenic forcing.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3, 607
Research Highlights | 04 October 2022

Reconstructing past CO₂ from ice core bubbles

Lucas Silva describes how the centrifugal ice microtrome can liberate air bubbles in ice cores to understand past atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.
- Lucas Silva
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3, 812
News & Views | 03 October 2022

Reversing Earth’s carbon engine

Enhanced formation of clay in marine sediments in the lead up to the end-Permian mass extinction likely pulled the Earth back into a hot, high-CO₂ state similar to that of the Precambrian.
- Hana Jurikova
Nature Geoscience 15, 756-757
News & Views | 03 October 2022

Cycling carbon with coccolithophores

Cellular modelling and geochemical analyses reveal that a dominant group of phytoplankton changed their carbonate production as atmospheric CO₂ levels declined from peak levels in the warm early Eocene, hinting at a positive feedback in the global carbon cycle.
- Rosie M. Sheward
Nature Geoscience 15, 758-759
News & Views | 05 September 2022

Climate legacies of dryland forests
- James Super
Nature Geoscience 15, 691
Research Highlights | 24 August 2022

Tracing marine gas hydrate destabilization with molecular fossils

Bumsoo Kim explains how lipid biomarkers in the sedimentary record can be used to trace gas hydrate destabilization and methane-release events in the geological past.
- Bumsoo Kim
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 3, 740