The Past Climates research cluster is based within UCL Department of Geography. Its members are engaged with 1. reconstruction of past climates and ecosystem responses on timescales from tectonic (millions of year2) to historical (hundreds of years); 2. deciphering the climatic signature of critical intervals in human evolution; and 3. contributing towards an evolving theoretical framework of long-term climate change. We have developed and applied novel methods for climate reconstruction from sediments from marine, lacustrine and terrestrial settings using palaeoecological, geochemical and isotopic methods supported by advanced numerical techniques and applied sophisticated modelling approaches to pressing palaeoclimatic problems and led initiatives for data-model comparison. Sub-themes include<:/p>

Climate variability on tectonic timescales (Brierley, Maslin). New hypotheses for Plio-Pleistocene climate and human evolution in East Africa. New climate modelling results for the Early Pliocene have drawn attention to the role of reduced meridional sea-surface temperature gradients on the permanent El Niño-like state and to the critical importance of feedbacks between tropical cyclones and the tropical ocean.