The last two decades of scientific research have seen a pronounced increase in studies of abrupt climatic change. Understanding past shifts in climate becomes a priority as we examine reasons for climatic change and the interrelationship between the biosphere and the atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere. The realisation that modern climate appears to be changing at a rapid rate has challenged scientists to look at past records of abrupt climate change. How rapidly can vegetation respond to climate shifts? What magnitude of vegetation change has been seen in the past? How widespread were these changes and how do they compare with shifts in the polar ice cores and the ocean? A selection of vegetation records, for which the isotopic signatures reflect environmental changes, are examined here. This paper focuses on the type of paleoclimatic interpretation that can be made: qualitative information with or without temporal constraint or even, in the best instances, the possibility of reaching a quantitative reconstruction.