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WHAT IS PROXY DATA?
PROXY DATA for climate are preserved physical characteristics (pollen grains and seeds) from an environment that serve as indirect ways of learning about something you cannot directly measure.
Reliable global records of climate only began in the 1880s, and proxies provide the only means for scientists to determine climatic patterns before record-keeping began.
Examples of proxies include: ice cores, tree rings, fossil pollen, soil cores, corals, lake and ocean sediments, and stalactites/stalagmites.
Each of these sources of data contains information that allows scientists to INFER specific information about past climatic conditions because these materials contain evidence ('clues') of past climate.
Reliable global records of climate only began in the 1880s, and proxies provide the only means for scientists to determine climatic patterns before record-keeping began.
Examples of proxies include: ice cores, tree rings, fossil pollen, soil cores, corals, lake and ocean sediments, and stalactites/stalagmites.
Each of these sources of data contains information that allows scientists to INFER specific information about past climatic conditions because these materials contain evidence ('clues') of past climate.
INFERRING the CLIMATE though PLANT COMMUNITIES
Plant communities are sensitive to climatic conditions. (Different plant communities live under different climatic conditions. For example, desert plants can't grow in a rainforest.)
Scientists use proxy data in the form of pollen grains and seeds to INFER past plant communities.
Because different plant species have different environmental requirements, the pollen and seed data from sediment cores provide evidence about the climatic conditions at different times in earth's history at the location it was taken.
Scientists use proxy data in the form of pollen grains and seeds to INFER past plant communities.
Because different plant species have different environmental requirements, the pollen and seed data from sediment cores provide evidence about the climatic conditions at different times in earth's history at the location it was taken.
WHAT WAS THE CLIMATE LIKE IN THE ANACOSTIA WATERSHED OVER THE LAST 12,500 YEARS?
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