Over 40 million years ago, long before anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions was an issue, the Earth was engulfed in an extremely warm period known as the Cenozoic hot house. The warming correlated with an ice-free Earth, lush forests on land masses near the North Pole, and alligators, giant tortoises and tapirs roaming the high Arctic. Indeed, the warmth experienced during the Cenozoic hot house was strikingly similar to future warming estimates derived from climate models. Thus, the Cenozoic hot house represents an ideal analog for understanding future changes resulting from warmer climates. The goal of this project is to document the remains of microscopic plant and animal organisms from three extensive Arctic lake cores that collectively span the Cenozoic hot house, and use the findings to evaluate the development and resilience of freshwater ecosystems in a warm greenhouse world. Preservation and sheer numbers of microfossils in the three cores are unprecedented and the project will also yield a unique opportunity to address long-standing evolutionary questions for ecologically important freshwater organisms.
Global warming, caused by higher concentrations of greenhouse gases, is advancing at an unprecedented rate and is arguably the most pressing environmental issue facing society today. Computer models predict significantly elevated warming in Arctic regions, and all indications are that the warming will cause profound reorganizations of biological communities. However, since there are no Arctic ecosystems currently experiencing such warm conditions, we lack data that could be used to verify the computer models. The project offers a unique chance to understand how Arctic freshwater ecosystems did, and most likely will, respond to warming.
