The discovery of abrupt climate changes in the past have raised an urgent request for paleo-climatic and paleoenvironmental records. Maar is typical German term representing a bowl-shaped volcanic crater cut into country rock below general ground level and possessing a low rim, which comprises the ring wall, the maar lake sediments, the diatreme, and the feeder dyke system. Maar may form under the conditions of phreatomagmatic explosion. Maar lake is the most appropriate area of forming and preservative high-resolution sedimentary record. In recent years, the research results of maar lakes suggest that the deeply potential function in the research of past global changes. Maar lakes in China are widely distributed in the different climatic belts. The present paper introduces the history of maar lake research, and the recent progress in the high-resolution studies of the past global changes, preferentially in offshore areas, its emphasis is laid on:①varved lacustrine sediment;②varve chronology, AMS14C chronology, and tephrochronology;③multi-proxy analysis; and④application of the new technique.