30-60 million years ago Dartmoor would have been covered by a dense sub-tropical forest where now it has gentle lowlands and high moorlands which attract millions of visitors every year to this National Park (Dartmoor National Park Authority, 2004). Over the past century advances in science and geology mean we are able to conclude the previous environment of Dartmoor and view the dramatic ways in which the climate has changed. The word, ‘climate’ describes long term weather patterns, Meteorologists determine ‘climate’ by taking weather measurements over a period of 25 years and calculating the averages (Dartmoor National Park Authority, 2005). Dartmoor appears to be a landscape relatively unchanged by humans except for a few visible stone walls and roads. However if you look closer you see hills, gullies and indentations, scar the landscape which are remnants of tinners scouring the landscape, the record of intense mining in the past (Harris, 1968). These all raise the question how did the climate and humans affect the landscape of Dartmoor we see today? This piece of work focuses initially on how sub tropical and arctic climates on Dartmoor have affected the landscape of tors and rivers and then continues with how humans have affected Dartmoor with peat and mining.
To look at the previous climate of Dartmoor and recreate the past we use Pollen Analysis. The pollen is from plants thousands of years old, which was entombed into the boggy recesses of the moor. The pollen is found in peat on the moor as pollen is transported by wind and insects into the boggy areas of the moor (Dartmoor National Park Assosication,2005). Using the vast knowledge of plants we can determine the species living on the moor in the past and so can det...
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...r 5,000 years meaning the farmers have created and maintained a large part of the Dartmoor landscape by working the land. In medieval times farmers split up land growing rye and oats by spliting the land up into narrow strips. These farmers also gave rise to the corn ditch which was a way of separating common grazing and enclosed lands by a ditch and a vertical stone-faced bank which discouraged cattle from entering the fields from the moor. Over the years the only farmland to have been improved is the inbye farmland which has been reseeded and fertilised for hay and silage. Today 90% of the land is used for farming both open and enclosed moorland where the stock graze. It is a marginal upland farming area meaning profits and production of animals per hectare are low or sometimes non due to the heavy precipitation, low temperature, poor soil and exposure to winds.
Through this study one can determine not only what exactly happened, but also how the land was before such changes
Burton, Robert, ed. Nature's Last Strongholds. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. Print.
From the early 1820’s the Traditional Owners were diposessed of the lands as the area was utilised for timber getting and brick-making.
The geology, its history, and the presence of past civilizations contribute to much of the significance of Mesa Verde National Park. The interconnectedness of these aspects should also be noted. If not for the weathering processes and changes in sea level this formation would not exist. Without it, the ancient people would not have been able to reside within Mesa Verde. This National Park now serves as a tool to help conserve the remains of these past civilizations as well as to help educate today’s society on the significance behind this astonishing geologic
Climate change is difficult to express directly, for knowledge of climate change generally falls under the classification of “weather.” However geologists have known since the mid-nineteenth century that local, and global climate undergoes change throug...
Pollen analysis is a technique which demands a high level of skill on the part of the excavator, scientist and interpreter to enable it to fulfil its potential. Collection of pollen samples can prove troublesome, the risk of cross-contamination is significant and efforts must be made to minimize the effect of any excavational bias. The number and ratio of pollen grains present in a sample can also be skewed by factors such as the orientation of the site and the nature of the pollen grains themselves, for example, trees such as pine produce much greater quantities of pollen than species such as oak and thus have a tendency to overrepresent themselves in the pollen record.
Globally, climate change is regarded as both an urgent as well as serious issue (Stern, 2006). Defined as the lasting and significant change in the statistical distribution of the patterns of weather over periods that range between years to decades, climate change is believed to be a result of the human activities which have lead to global warming over the years (Sagan& Chyba1997). Other prospective contributors to climate change include biotic processes, solar radiation variations, volcanic eruptions and plate tectonics. Scientists continue to work actively with the aim of understanding the past as well as the future climate through observations and the use of theoretical models. A climate record has been assembled through the deep extension into the past of the earth .This assembly continues to be built up based on evidence that is geological in nature such as borehole temperature profiles, faunal and floral records, glacial process among others.
Baldwin, A. Dwight., Judith De Luce, and Carl Pletsch. Beyond Preservation: Restoring and Inventing Landscapes. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1994. Print.
Rapidly changing human activity within the Stratford since 1867 to this present day puts huge pressures on the natural environment's ability to adapt and change. These may be further complicated by the influences of climate change, such as extremes in weather. These bar graphs above show the changes in land use over one hundred and forty seven years.
Interactions between human and the ecosystem have been operating for millenniums, and are impossible to eliminate, as each depends on the other in order to survive and flourish. However, as modern technology advances, as well as the increase in the world’s population, the need for natural resources begin to rise to an alarming rate which has started to gradually destroy the ecosystem. Recently, there has been an increase of sea levels in region whilst other rain-bounty areas have begun to experience their first droughts. This phenomenon is known as climate change. Climatologists have concluded that human activity has played a major role in contributing to the changes, therefore requiring extreme measures before this phenomenon evolves into a catastrophe. In this essay, we will discuss human activities that contributed to climate change, as well as addressing possible solutions to the phenomenon.
One of the most key examples of understanding human culture through archaeology is the topic of climate and the environment. As seen through history, there is an intricate relationship between the environment and life on earth. Through extensive research, archaeologists have the ability to take note of minor cultural changes that can be attributed to the environment during a particular time period. These changes include, shifts in methods of food collection, changes in the artwor...
Working on farmland was common among the average renaissance citizen. One of the most impacting inventions was the new kind of plow. Farming materials were a constant struggle to use and maintain, but with this new time period, farming heavy, clay soil improved with stronger equipment. The new plow invented contained metal blades and consisted of three parts that cut, passed, and turned the soil into turf (MacEachern 5). This efficient machine facilitated a way for farmers to gain more produce with bigger harvests (MacEachern 6). To increase the harvest size even more, farmers elongated the life of their crops with a new irrigation system. “Floating meadows”, which is the practice of flooding entire fields, was used by English farmers starting in the Renaissance to protect against frost and river mud (Grendler 117). Farming methods were most likely improved with a simple change to an old idea. Having the new plow, a team of horses or oxen was required to pull it (MacEachern 5). This new use of horses guided the creation of horse shoes. The invention of the horse shoe and other supplies meant that horses were used more efficiently (MacEachern 6).
Grazing management is one of the most important factors for farmers to get right. It is the cheapest form of feed available as seen in the costs section, so the right method must be chosen. Grass management for farmers in Ireland is a yearly challenge as the weather is so unpredictable. I conclude that a rotational grazing system such as strip or paddock grazing would make the best out of the grassland.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether global warming could affect the thermohaline circulation cycle (THC) significantly enough that it could even shut it down and thus cause a shift in the climate of Europe severe enough to cause another Little Ice Age. To answer the question about whether global warming could cause another ice age, I have divided this paper into segments. The first will explain what the thermohaline circulation cycle is. Next, I will look at the last interglacial period and observe what the conditions were like especially in respect to the THC. I will look at how the last interglacial led to the last great Ice Age, and the sudden demise of that Ice Age, as well as the nearly equally sudden cooling that occurred in the Younger Dryas about 12,000 years ago before the warming resumed in earnest shortly thereafter. In the final part of this paper I will look at two different predictions of what could happen as a result of the melting of the North Atlantic region's ice sheets with respect to the THC and how it could affect the regional climate in Europe.
This landscape was made millions of years ago during the ice ages, when moving glaciers of ice made deep valleys, steep mountain slopes and long lakes. The southern and eastern parts of Britain are made up of smaller rocks that have weathered and become fertile farmland.