Consider the study of past climate change and determine which of the following i
ID: 294396 • Letter: C
Question
Consider the study of past climate change and determine which of the following is (are) correct. A. The resolution of proxy records is generally greater in the recent past than for the distant geologic past. B. The types of proxy records available are generally more diverse in the recent past than they are for the distant geologic past. C. Climate proxies allow scientists to directly read the temperature of the past D. Both A and B are correct E. Both A and C are correct Consider the study of past climate change and determine which of the following is (are) correct. A. The resolution of proxy records is generally greater in the recent past than for the distant geologic past. B. The types of proxy records available are generally more diverse in the recent past than they are for the distant geologic past. C. Climate proxies allow scientists to directly read the temperature of the past D. Both A and B are correct E. Both A and C are correct A. The resolution of proxy records is generally greater in the recent past than for the distant geologic past. B. The types of proxy records available are generally more diverse in the recent past than they are for the distant geologic past. C. Climate proxies allow scientists to directly read the temperature of the past D. Both A and B are correct E. Both A and C are correctExplanation / Answer
E)
-> Resolution describes the level of detail of a proxy record. Because many tree species 'record' conditions of each growing season, tree ring data can have an annual resolution. Ocean sediments, on the other hand, often have resolutions on the order of a century because sediments are mixed by currents and burrowing marine life, blending short-term trends. Typically, records that have large spans tend to have lower resolutions, while records with short spans tend to have higher resolutions. Scientists must be aware of spans and resolutions of different record types when looking for data about a specific time in history. The records must span the time period of interest, but they must also have appropriate resolution to address the issue being studied.
-> Before that time not many thermometer records are available, so scientists use indirect temperature measurements, supported by anecdotal evidence recorded by diarists, and the few thermometer records that do exist. Scientists must rely solely on indirect methods to look back further than recorded human history. Indirect ways of assessing past temperatures, using so-called temperature proxies, take measurements of responses to past temperature change that are preserved in natural archives such as ice, rocks and fossils.