The Holocene (0–11.7 ka BP) appears warm and stable in ice core and global temperature reconstructions as well as in transient climate simulations. This seeming quiescence of Earth's climate belies large secular changes in seasonal and zonal mean radiation receipts resulting from variations in orbital precession and obliquity. Here we show that the tropical Pacific, a key mediator of global climate, underwent a profound climatic shift during the Holocene. Hydrogen isotope ratios of the algal lipid dinosterol, isolated from marine lake sediments in Palau, increased by 50‰ between 7.7 and 4.5 ka BP, indicating a reduction in precipitation. This implied drying coincided with increased rainfall to the southwest of Palau in Borneo, weakened northern hemisphere monsoons, strengthened southern hemisphere monsoons, and an equatorward shift of terrestrial photosynthesis. A southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, forced by insolation, is the most likely cause of these climatic and biospheric changes.

The chemical kinetics simulation system described here accepts as input the series of elementary chemical equations that define the mechanism of a reaction and the rate constant associated with each elementary process in the mechanism. The system outputs a table and/or graph of the concentration of each reactant, product, and intermediate as a function of time. Because input of the reaction mechanism closely parallels the usual conventions for writing chemical equations,

To foster equity and inclusion and internationalize, higher education institutions should offer degree-credit for ESOL courses, thus valuing multilingual students’ prior learning, recognizing the learners’ journeys toward global citizenship, and highlighting the rigor of English language programs and expertise of faculty. Authors discuss the rationale and next steps for implementing ESOL credit at higher education institutions.