Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
Widespread tropical cyclone activity during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age
Qing Yan1,2,3, Sophia Macarewich4, Nanxuan Jiang5
1State Key Laboratory of Earth System Numerical Modeling and Application, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. yanqing@mail.iap.ac.cn.
None:
Whether tropical cyclone (TC) activity prevailed during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA)-the longest icehouse of the Phanerozoic-remains debated, owing to the paucity and ambiguity of sedimentary evidence. To help resolve this conflict, we combine a global compilation of 126 storm records spanning the LPIA ( ~ 360-260 Ma) with high-resolution (~25-km) TC-resolving simulations. We reveal a quasi-symmetric meridional distribution of TC genesis across the tropics during the LPIA, with TC tracks extending into high latitudes (>60°N/°S). This pattern aligns with the compiled widespread storm deposits from subtropical and tropical regions. During CO₂-driven glacial-interglacial transitions within the LPIA, we observe reduced global TC frequency and enhanced intensity, coinciding with poleward shifts in TC activity. The shifts are linked to spatially heterogeneous warming patterns and associated changes in atmospheric circulation. Our results help reconcile controversies regarding icehouse TC behavior and highlight that warming-induced poleward migration of TC activity is likely a climate state-independent characteristic of the Earth system.
Related Concept Videos
Global Climate Change
The Fossil Record
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth
Speciation Rates
Isothermal Processes
An ideal gas can also undergo isothermal expansion or compression.
For example, consider 1 mole of an ideal gas inside an isolated cylinder at initial volume V...

