RUI: Characterizing Arctic lakes during greenhouse climates through an analysis of siliceous organisms: A glimpse of what the future may hold.

4000多万年前，早在人为温室气体排放成为问题之前，地球就被吞没在一个被称为新生代温室的极端温暖的时期。气候变暖与无冰的地球、北极附近大片土地上郁郁葱葱的森林以及在北极高地漫步的鳄鱼、巨型乌龟和锦鲤有关。事实上，在新生代暖房期间经历的温暖与根据气候模型得出的未来变暖估计惊人地相似。因此，新生代温室是了解气候变暖导致的未来变化的理想类比。该项目的目标是记录来自三个广泛的北极湖核心的微小动植物生物的遗骸，这些核心总共横跨新生代暖房，并利用这些发现来评估在温暖的温室世界中淡水生态系统的发展和弹性。三个岩芯中微化石的保存和绝对数量是史无前例的，该项目还将为解决具有重要生态意义的淡水生物长期存在的进化问题提供一个独特的机会。由温室气体浓度升高引起的全球变暖正以前所未有的速度发展，可以说是当今社会面临的最紧迫的环境问题。计算机模型预测北极地区的变暖显著加剧，所有迹象都表明，变暖将导致生物群落的深刻重组。然而，由于目前没有北极生态系统经历如此温暖的条件，我们缺乏可以用来验证计算机模型的数据。该项目提供了一个独特的机会来了解北极淡水生态系统曾经是如何应对气候变暖的，而且很可能会这样做。

Over 40 million years ago, long before anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions was an issue, the Earth was engulfed in an extremely warm period known as the Cenozoic hot house. The warming correlated with an ice-free Earth, lush forests on land masses near the North Pole, and alligators, giant tortoises and tapirs roaming the high Arctic. Indeed, the warmth experienced during the Cenozoic hot house was strikingly similar to future warming estimates derived from climate models. Thus, the Cenozoic hot house represents an ideal analog for understanding future changes resulting from warmer climates. The goal of this project is to document the remains of microscopic plant and animal organisms from three extensive Arctic lake cores that collectively span the Cenozoic hot house, and use the findings to evaluate the development and resilience of freshwater ecosystems in a warm greenhouse world. Preservation and sheer numbers of microfossils in the three cores are unprecedented and the project will also yield a unique opportunity to address long-standing evolutionary questions for ecologically important freshwater organisms. Global warming, caused by higher concentrations of greenhouse gases, is advancing at an unprecedented rate and is arguably the most pressing environmental issue facing society today. Computer models predict significantly elevated warming in Arctic regions, and all indications are that the warming will cause profound reorganizations of biological communities. However, since there are no Arctic ecosystems currently experiencing such warm conditions, we lack data that could be used to verify the computer models. The project offers a unique chance to understand how Arctic freshwater ecosystems did, and most likely will, respond to warming.