08.10.12
The global climate changes that led to the expansion and contraction of high latitude ice sheets during the Quaternary period (broadly the last two million years of geological time) were associated with equally dramatic changes in tropical environments. These included shifts in vegetation zones, changes in the hydrology and ecology of lakes and rivers, and fluctuations in the size of mountain glaciers and sandy deserts. Until recently it was thought that such changes were triggered by fluctuations in the distribution of polar ice cover. Now there is increasing recognition that the tropics have acted as drivers of global climate change over a range of timescales.
Professor David Nash of the University of Brighton's School of Environment and Technology, together with Professor Sarah Metcalfe from the University of Nottingham, have just published a book which aims to synthesise the changes that occurred in tropical terrestrial and marine systems during the Quaternary. The edited volume, entitled Quaternary Environmental Change in the Tropics, includes review chapters written by international experts who summarise the evidence for environmental shifts across the world's tropical continents and oceans.
The book is aimed at final-year undergraduate students and research specialists, but will provide an introduction to tropical Quaternary research for a variety of other readers. For more information about the book and to order a copy, visit the Wiley-Blackwell website.
