As climate change continues to tick the Earths temperature upward, we can learn what to expect of a hotter planet by looking at the past. In his research, Jack Williams, director of the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research, studies the impact climate change had at the end of the last ice age–around 15,000 years ago–when global temperatures rose by 9°F. By analyzing ancient materials trapped in lake beds, he and his colleagues in the field have come to some startling conclusions. For one, small fluctuations in global temperature can cause large-scale biological changes across the planet, including mass migrations and extinctions.
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