Climate Cycles

The video explores climate changes over thousands of years, focusing on data from Greenland's ice cores. These cores provide a detailed climate history, revealing both gradual and rapid shifts. By analyzing the chemical makeup of ice layers, scientists can determine past temperatures. A graph illustrates temperature changes over 50,000 years, highlighting a long Ice Age followed by warming. The video also discusses rapid climate changes within decades and questions the causes of these shifts.

What do the distinct layers in Greenland's ice cores represent?

• Different types of glaciers

• Various periods in time

• Types of snowflakes

• Levels of atmospheric pressure

How do scientists determine past temperatures using ice cores?

• By measuring the thickness of ice layers

• By analyzing the chemical composition of water in the layers

• By observing the color of the ice

• By counting the number of layers

What does the presence of a specific type of hydrogen in ice layers indicate?

• The altitude of the glacier

• The temperature at the time the ice was formed

• The speed of ice formation

• The age of the ice

During the past 50,000 years, how did temperatures vary during the Ice Age?

• From -40 to -45°

• From -20 to -25°

• From -33 to -39°

• From -10 to -15°

What surprising finding do ice cores reveal about temperature changes?

• Temperatures only change over thousands of years

• Temperatures have always been stable

• Temperatures can change by several degrees in just a decade

• Temperatures are unaffected by atmospheric conditions