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Global Environmental Change Lab
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A lab that reads the past and present of Earth's environment from tree rings, glaciers, and cave speleothems.
AboutAbout the lab
Learning about changes in Earth's environment from past records.
The Global Environmental Change Lab conducts research and education on how Earth's environment has changed in the past and how it will change in the future as human activities add to those changes.
It analyzes samples that recorded past environments, such as tree rings, Antarctic ice cores, and cave speleothems, using isotopes.
On glaciers in the high mountains of Asia, the lab bases its work on field observations, sometimes also using satellite images, to study changes in glaciers and glacial lakes.
In tree-ring research, it also tackles themes linked to history and archaeology, namely how human societies have responded to climate change.
Key terms
- Isotope
- Atoms of the same element with slightly different mass. Their ratios can reveal past temperatures, amounts of rainfall, and more.
- Ice core
- A cylinder of ice drilled from an ice sheet or glacier, in which snow and air from the past are trapped.
- Glacial lake
- A lake formed by meltwater collecting at the terminus of a glacier or a similar location.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab seeks to clarify how Earth's climate and environment have changed, using records of the past and field observations. Each faculty member uses different methods, including glacier observation, climate reconstruction from tree-ring isotopes, and analysis of ice cores and speleothems.
*Illustrative imageGlaciers and Glacial Lakes in High Mountain Asia
Following the motto "Nothing begins without seeing things on site," the lab relies on field observations, sometimes supplemented by satellite images. It studies how glacial lakes forming at glacier termini expand, how glaciers, which are important water resources, melt and drain, and how glacier changes relate to the surrounding climate.
*Illustrative imageReconstructing Climate and Social History from Tree Rings
The lab measures oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in the tree rings of many pieces of wood collected from living trees, timber from old buildings, and buried wood. From these it reconstructs climate change in Japan and Asia over the past several thousand years at annual resolution. It also dates wood excavated from archaeological sites to the exact year and analyzes how human societies have responded to climate change.
*Illustrative imageExploring Climate Change with Ice Cores and Speleothems
Using original isotope analysis methods, the lab examines samples that recorded environmental change, from Antarctic ice cores to speleothems in Japanese caves. It aims to clarify how Earth's climate has changed and been maintained over long periods. It is also working on extracting and analyzing rainwater from several thousand years ago trapped in speleothems.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorTakeshi Nakatsuka
- ProfessorRyu Uemura
- Associate ProfessorAkiko Sakai
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “GRINNELL GLACIER LANDSCAPE B FOOTAGE ( )” GlacierNPS / Public domain (cropped)
- Glaciers and Glacial Lakes in High Mountain Asia: “Gangotri Glacier terminus detail in 2018 satellite image, India ESA415382 (cropped)” European Space Agency / CC BY-SA 3.0 igo (cropped)
- Reconstructing Climate and Social History from Tree Rings: “Dendrochronological drill hg” Hannes Grobe/AWI / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Exploring Climate Change with Ice Cores and Speleothems: “Speleothem Kawachi” Kingfiser / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Earth History – Environmental History Lab): “1 MV accelerator mass spectrometer” 作者不詳 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Material Cycle Science Lab (Urumu Tsunogai)): “EA-IRMS, isotope ratio mass spectrometer with elemental analyzer for the determination of isotope ratios of stable isotopes in wines, spirits, honey and natural sweeteners, in CAFIA laboratory” Sarka Na kopci / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Global Water Cycle Science Division, Hydroclimatology Lab): “Permafrost Polygons ( )” Western Arctic National Parklands / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Geochronology Lab): “EPMA GTK Espoo” Kallerna / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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