Special Topic: Cretaceous greenhouse palaeoclimate and sea-level changes

Greenhouse gases in the Earth system: a palaeoclimate perspective.

While the trends in greenhouse gas concentrations in recent decades are clear, their significance is only revealed when viewed in the context of a longer time period. Fortunately, the air bubbles in polar ice cores provide an unusually direct method of determining the concentrations of stable gases over a period of (so far) 800,000 years. Measurements on different cores with varying characteris...

"Greenhouse Effect, Sea Level Rise, and Land Use"

Mass extinctions and sea-level changes

Review of sea-level changes during the big five mass extinctions and several lesser extinction events reveals that the majority coincide with large eustatic inflexions. The degree of certainty with which these eustatic oscillations are known varies considerably. Thus, the late Ordovician and end Cretaceous extinctions are associated with unequivocal, major regressions demonstrated from numerous...

Ice-sheet and sea-level changes.

Future sea-level rise is an important issue related to the continuing buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, with the potential to raise sea level approximately 70 meters if completely melted, dominate uncertainties in projected sea-level change. Freshwater fluxes from these ice sheets also may affect oceanic circulation, contributing to cl...

Palaeoclimate Perspective Greenhouse Gases in the Earth System: a References Rapid Response Subject Collections Greenhouse Gases in the Earth System: a Palaeoclimate Perspective

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