Ultimately, geologists rely upon the preserved clues of ancient geologic processes to understand Earth’s history. Because younger environments retain more evidence than older environments, the Earth’s recent history is better known than its ancient past.

The reason Precambrian history is much more difficult to decipher, are because it is too many events to try figuring it out which can be complicated. Rocks have been subducted, rocks have weathered away and rocks are buried by other rocks, so very little PreCambrian rock is visible at the surface for us to study.

So studying the Pliocene could provide valuable insight into the type of planet we are creating via global warming. If we want to explore climate sensitivity on a warmer planet, we must look further back into Earth history, to times such as the Pliocene.

The Earth Has Changed and Continues to Change We need to understand these in terms of their causes, their rates, and their long and short-term effects. Earth history enables us to understand those changes which no human being has ever seen (or if they have, they didn’t record it) and to relate them to modern changes.

Part of Hall of Planet Earth. The study of ancient climate is key to understanding how the climate system works–and how it might change in the future. Geologic records going back millions of years show that natural patterns, like shifts in Earth’s orbit, can steer dramatic changes.

Today, there is concern about future climate change (e.g., global warming) and how it will affect us. Paleontologists who work on Pleistocene fossils are providing a growing amount of data on the effect of climate change on the Earth’s biota, making it possible to understand the effects of future climate change.

New Zealand has experienced about 10 tsunamis higher than 5m since 1840. Such a tsunami can arrive within minutes – before there is time to issue a warning. Distant earthquakes give more warning time. Some tsunamis are turbulent, foaming walls of water filled with debris and sand that crash ashore and sweep inland.

A 2016 study revealed the city is sinking by as much as 10cm in some areas each year. Again like other sinking cities, the problem is due to depleting groundwater, with over-extraction causing the soil to dry up and compact.

New Zealand cities including Christchurch and Wellington could be inundated by global warming-induced rising sea levels, according to data from a National Geographic documentary. Auckland’s 10 kilometre long coastal Tamaki Drive would submerge under rising seas.