Climate like any other physical phenomenon is not static but rather a fairly dynamic kind of thing. In greater or less degree it is ever changing. In every part of the world one year, one decade or one century differs from another.

Till recently, the concept of climatic change was considered only of academic importance. It was only during the past few decades that scientists began to recognize the inherent variability of climate on all time scales.

Furthermore, now there has been an ever growing awareness among the general public and the governments of the possible variability of the earth’s climate. In other words, climatic change is viewed as a matter of great concern for the future.

In view of the profound influence of climate on every aspect of life at present, it can be appreciated that its influence on different life forms has been great in the past and is likely to be so in the future too.

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Plants, animals, human beings all change with a change of climate. Now, it is an established fact that all living species thrive best under definite and limited conditions of various climatic elements. Any great deviation from the normal values means death and destruction for the species.

Here an attempt is made to briefly examine climates of the past. Besides, some of the techniques devised by scientists to reconstruct and interpret the climatic fluctuations have also been described.

Lastly, a wide variety of theories that have been proposed as possible explanations of the causes of the climatic changes have also been reviewed.