Nature; the greatest documenter

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Ever since writing was invented, documentation played a crucial role in carrying forward our culture and important events in history. But do not come to the conclusion that only human knows to document stuff.

Nature knows too..!!  That is what I aim to bring to you here in this short piece.

Tree rings

Since we cannot go back in time to know how it looked like centuries ago, scientist rely on natural sources for climate data and visualize the history of the earth.
  
We know that trees could live for thousands of years. During this long time, they could have experienced a variety of climates and environmental conditions; such as forest fire, heavy rains, snow, wind, storm and scorching sunlight. Tree always do keep a track of these information within themselves. Studying tree rings can reveal this information to us. 

Photo: Puviarasan                                                                                                                     Location: Thiruvakarai village




If you take a look into the picture given below, you will see series of rings placed next to each other. The wider the gap between each rings are, warmer the climate was that year. 

A clearly illustrated image is attached below for your understanding. 

Photo courtsey: NASA



Photo: Puviarasan                                                                                                                     Location: Thiruvakarai village


The above picture was taken at mining area near Thiruvakarai village of Tamil Nadu.  If you take a closer look in the above image, there are pattern of pebble stone found in the middle of sand wall. This reveals that this particular place in Thiruvakarai could be under the sea at some point in time. 

Finding the age from corals and marine animals
  
Even in the case of oceans; coral and algae can reveal the secret history of the ocean. Scientist cut the specimen of corals into a half, when they do that, we can get an idea of the growth pattern of that particular specimen. It will give us information on how old the specimen might be. Just like trees on land, plants, and animals in the ocean capture changes in the environment in their skeleton.

Observing the growth of the algae can also reveal the climatic condition of that area.
Example -  In years when it is warmer, there is less sea ice. And so more light being able to reach the algae in the sea floor. Hence more growth. In cold years,  there is more sea ice, and so there is less light reaching sea floor. Hence less growth in algae. 

It is really amazing to see how these nature actually documenting changes in the environment. Such methods, shows us how our climate has changed over hundreds of years, and how people are causing this change.

Next time when you see a tree, remember that they know and have seen things. 

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