The Present Climatic Fluctuation and its Bearing on a Reconstruction of Pleistocene Climatic Conditions

Study of the broad scale pressure, temperature, and precipitation changes which have occurred over the Northern Hemisphere during the last forty years gives considerable information concerning the nature and mechanism of a climatic change. If it is assumed that these small-scale changes resemble in certain aspects those that have occurred in the great glacial to interglacial changes of the Pleistocene period, conclusions concerning the broad scale meteorologic conditions of that period can be drawn. Evidence from synoptic meteorology is also used to reveal possible circulation changes accompanying the shift from a glacial to an interglacial period. Certain ideas obtained from these studies are further investigated by means of more detailed studies over North America.