THE CLIMATE RECORD &

SEVERE WEATHER CLIMATOLOGY

PROXY DATA

Historical Documents

Biological evidence

coral, forams, pollen, tree rings

Geological evidence

glacial deposits, ice cores, sediments

Antarctica Ice Cores

Palynology is the branch of science dealing with microscopic, decay-resistant remains of certain plants and animals. It has many applications including archaeological palynology, Quarternary palynology, and stratigraphic palynology.

Marine sediment samples collected with a multicorer

Foraminifera (forams for short). Forams provide two main types of information : ocean temperature of species, O18/O16 ratio (glacial ice volume)

Ocean Floor Cores

Biological Evidence: Tree Rings

Bristlecone pine of the Great Basin region of western North America are the oldest known living trees, up to 5,000 years old.

DENDROCHRONOLOGY

Pleistocene Ice Age

Glacial Deposit: Erratic

Alpine Glacier and Mass Balance

Alpine Erosional Features

Alpine Glacier Depositional Features

Continental Glacier Depositional Features

Milankovitch Hypothesis

Vostok Ice Core Record

MIDIEVAL WARM PERIOD AND LITTLE ICE AGE

Viking Voyages During Medieval Warm Period

MAYAN CIVILIZATION COLLAPSE

Hunters in the Snow by the Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525–1569). Completed in February 1565, during the first of the many bitter winters of the Little Ice Age.

Climate and Art

Historic Instrument Record

Life Cycle of a Thunderstorm

Severe Thunderstorm

Lightning Strokes Shown in Sequence

National Lightning Detection Network

Thunderstorms

Figure 5.36

Sea Breeze Convergence Over Florida

Thunderstorms

Figure 5.37

Annual Average Days of Hailstorms

Twister!

Figure 5.38

Tornadoes

Figure 5.39

Tropical Cyclones

Figure 5.40

Brazilian Hurricane

Figure 5.40

Hurricane Katrina and SSTs

Profile of a Hurricane

Figure 5.42

STORM SURGE