Geologic temperature record

Imagine you are baking cookies and you need to put them in the oven to bake. Before putting the cookies in the oven, you check the temperature with a thermometer to make sure it is not too hot or too cold. Just like you use a thermometer to measure the temperature in the oven, scientists use different methods to measure the temperature of the Earth over time, and this process is called the geologic temperature record.

Scientists use things like tree rings, ice cores, fossils, and rocks to determine the Earth's temperature going back thousands and even millions of years. Just like how you can see how old a tree is by counting the rings on its trunk, scientists can count the layers in ice cores or rocks to determine the temperature at that time.

For example, ice cores from glaciers can show scientists how much snow fell each year, and the measurements of oxygen isotopes in the ice can show how cold or warm it was when the snow fell. Fossil records can also show changes in temperature because some plants and animals can only survive in certain temperature ranges.

All of these pieces of evidence are like clues that scientists use to put together a timeline of the Earth's temperature changes over millions of years. By studying the geologic temperature record, scientists can see how much the temperature has changed, and how fast it has changed over time.

Overall, the geologic temperature record helps us understand how the Earth's climate has changed in the past, and can give us clues about how it may change in the future.