Long-term Environmental Change in Arctic and Antarctic Lakes, Vol. 8 Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research

Concerns about the effects of global climatic and environmental change have focused attention on the vulnerability of circumpolar regions. Long-term data are needed to determine if in fact the environment is changing, to define better the range of natural variability, to put any recent changes into a historical context, as well as to explore the natural modes of climatic and environmental change.

The paucity of instrumental data from high latitude regions requires that proxy methods must be used. The abundance of lakes and ponds throughout the Arctic and Antarctic makes paleolimnological approaches especially powerful tools to assist interpretations of environmental change. This book provides a synthesis of the broad spectrum of paleolimnological studies available for reconstructing long-term environmental records from circumpolar lakes, in addition to providing overviews of the geographic extent of work completed thus far in these regions.

The volume explores the diverse ways that paleolimnologists have used to address some of the most important environmental issues emerging from high latitude regions. By providing both introductions and in-depth reviews, this volume is of interest to students and advanced researchers alike who are studying earth, atmospheric and environmental sciences.