• 责任者：Tang Zihua (Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment ; Institute of Geology and Ceophysics ; Chinese Academy of Sciences ; Beijing 100029 ; China)
• 刊名：Quaternary Sciences
• 出版年：2011
• 卷期：31(6)
• 关键词：新生代 ; Cenozoic ; 全球变暖 ; global warming
• 页码：p.1053-1059
• 图表：3 illus., 69 refs.
• 分类号：1200
• issnNo：ISSN1001-7410
• isbnNo：CN11-2708/P

 Against the background of progressive cooling, three permanent warm periods occurred within the Cenozoic, i. e. the Early Eocene, the Middle Miocene, and the Pliocene. During the Cenozoic, the Earth evolved from an ice-free, to an Antarctica glacial, and finally into today’s planet with polar ice caps. These past warm intervals fail as satisfactory geologic analogs for a future warming. However, they provide a valuable opportunity to understand the processes that operated during warm climate states, especially on the climate sensitivity of various CO₂ concentrations, and to improve the prediction qualities of climate models.