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3% of scientists do not believe that climate change is a result of mankind's activities - but some people still believe that the Earth is flat!

The Climate Over the Past Two Million Years

This GCSE Geography quiz looks at how Earth’s climate has changed over the last two million years, including ice ages, warmer interglacials, and evidence left in the landscape.

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Fascinating Fact:

Glacial periods were much colder than today, with large ice sheets covering parts of North America, northern Europe, and Asia.

In GCSE Geography, studying climate over the past two million years helps explain how glacial and interglacial periods shaped landscapes. Students explore evidence from landforms, sediments, and fossils to understand long-term climate change.

Key Terms

Glacial period: A long, cold phase when ice sheets and glaciers expanded and covered large areas of land.
Interglacial: A warmer period between glacial stages when ice sheets retreated and climates were similar to or warmer than today.
Ice sheet: A massive, continuous layer of ice that covers land over a very large area, often more than 50,000 square kilometres.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What do geographers mean by the last two million years of climate?

Geographers use the last two million years to study repeated glacial and interglacial cycles, showing how Earth’s climate has naturally shifted between colder and warmer conditions.

How do we know past climates were colder or warmer?

Evidence comes from ice cores, ocean sediments, fossils, and landforms such as U-shaped valleys, which show when glaciers were present and how temperatures changed over time.

Why is studying past climate important for GCSE Geography?

Studying past climate helps students understand today’s climate patterns, recognise long-term natural changes, and compare them with recent human-influenced climate change.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Ice cores are cylinders of ice drilled out of an ice sheet or glacier. These are often extracted from Antarctica. What can ice cores tell us about the climate from millions of years ago through to the present day?

The size of the trapped snowflakes tell us what the conditions were like when they were formed

The ice contains trapped bubbles of air from the atmosphere, which allows scientists to measure the concentrations of different gases in the past

Thousands of animals are trapped in the ice. The cores contain these animals and DNA testing can tell us what was living on the ice at different times

Some years no snow fell and the layers melted. This is recorded in the ice cores and can show periods when there was no ice at the poles

One of the main areas that scientists use the ice cores for is examining the composition of the atmosphere. Using data obtained over the past 50 or 60 years they have compared air trapped in the ice thousands of years ago to the Earth's atmosphere today

2 .

Glacial retreat may be caused by increased temperature. What is another possible reason for glacial retreat?

Increased river flow under the ice

Human erosion

Lack of snowfall

Deforestation

Glaciers may be retreating as the lack of snowfall is reducing the amount of ice in general. However, this is likely to only be a small part of the reason - warmer temperatures and milder winters are more than likely the main cause

3 .

Over the past 10,000 years what temperature has our climate averaged in degrees celcius?

Whilst it is difficult to measure overall, the temperatures averaged around 14 degrees C. The trend now is that temperatures are rising

4 .

Which of the following is not a natural cause of global climate change?

Change in Earth's orbit

Change in tilt of the Earth

Change in the Sun's activity

Burning fossil fuels

Climate change has been on-going for millions of years as the planet has cycled through glaciations, better known as ice-ages. However, man-made causes such as burning fossil fuels are accelerating the process

5 .

Some people that don't support the theories of man-made global climate change point out that some scientists also disagree with the theories. What percentage of scientists support the theory that climate change is being driven by human activities?

A large majority

50%

A small minority

Thousands of studies have been published on the topic of global climate change. The vast majority of them agree that there are significant man-made causes. When you read about scientists on-line that argue that this is solely a natural process, you are looking at a very small percentage. Remember, a small percentage of the world's population seriously believe the Earth is flat - there will always be people that disagree with scientifically accepted theories

6 .

Why do scientists study pollen, rather than leaves and plants, to investigate climate change over millions of years?

Pollen is tougher and more likely to survive in the fossil record, marshes and ice cores than plants and leaves are

Pollen is rarer than plants and leaves and so easier to identify, meaning a more accurate picture of the environment can be built up

Pollen from all plants is only released at a single time of the year, meaning that scientists can use it as a form of clock

Plants never survive even in the fossil record. Only skeletal remains will ever be discovered

Pollen is tiny and released in massive quantities, meaning that it is often present in cores and samples. Being unique to the species of plant, these tiny grains can tell researchers what plants were growing in the area and so allow them to reconstruct the climate

7 .

Scientists studying climate change refer to paleoclimates. What does this term refer to?

The Earth's past climates

Archaeological evidence that show the past climates

Today's climate

Different theories of climate change

Paleo means older or ancient, normally over geological timespans

8 .

How do rocks and fossils help scientists track the trends in climate change over millions of years?

They show the sediments, plants, and animals at different places over a long time period. These can be used to reconstruct the environments

Certain rocks only form at certain temperatures. By examining the rocks scientists can tell what temperatures they formed at

Since some rocks form underwater, any rocks formed in this way can be used to reconstruct the original sea floor

Many animals grow faster when temperatures are warmer. By measuring the growth of various fossils. Scientists can measure the temperature of the climate from this growth

Fossils and trace fossils can be used to reconstruct the environments, but it is a tough scientific discipline. Rocks and continents have moved over millions of years and often the plants and animals are now extinct or have evolved into a different form

9 .

What data have scientists gathered from ice cores about the carbon dioxide concentration over the past 1,000 years?

In general they have only shown a tiny increase in levels of carbon dioxide over the past millennium

There has been a sharp fall in atmospheric carbon dioxide as the use of fossil fuels has pulled it from the atmosphere

The carbon dioxide levels have remained constant for most of the millennium, until the early 19th century when they rose sharply

Oxygen levels have fallen sharply as fossil fuels have used up the oxygen

The Industrial Revolution changed the way we operated. A massive increase in fossil fuel usage meant that carbon, previously trapped as coal and oil, was released into the atmosphere

10 .

What is the relationship between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and temperature?

The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the cooler the temperature

As carbon dioxide levels reach a critical number the temperature suddenly drops

As the temperature falls it causes a rise in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the warmer the temperature

The data shows that as carbon dioxide levels rise the temperature also rises. Scientists can see that the carbon dioxide levels rise before the temperature rises, indicating a cause and effect

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Climate change

Author: Ruth M