Our Research

How has Earth's climate varied in the past, and why? How have earth surface temperature, the hydrologic cycle, and global biogeochemical cycles changed as part of this climate variability? What is the ocean?s role in natural climate change, and how are the oceans likely to respond to future changes in Earth?s climate, both natural and anthropogenic?

Members of G&G's Climate and Paleoceanography group at WHOI use natural archives, sediment cores, corals, glacial ice  and state-of-the-art analytical tools to understand climate-linked changes in the circulation, biology, and chemistry of the oceans. We investigate ocean / land / atmosphere / cryosphere interactions on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, and reconstruct the timing, magnitude, and causes of past changes in these interactions, and their links to global climate. We also investigate ongoing and future climate change due to rising greenhouse gases.