PCC 7th Annual Public Lecture (2008)- Professor Carl Wunsch "The Ocean and Climate Change: Exciting Stories, Realistic Problems, and the Future"

Start Date/Time: Thursday, May 08, 2008, 7:00 PM
Location: Kane Hall Room 120, UW Campus

"The Ocean and Climate Change: Exciting Stories, Realistic Problems, and the Future"

Dr. Carl Wunsch
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physical Oceanography
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institite of Technology

Abstract: The ocean circulation is known to be important in determining Earth's climate in a variety of ways. Paleoclimate studies tell us that the overall climate state has been radically different in the past: from major glaciations to times with palm trees near the poles. Scenarios have been constructed in which these extremes, and potentially rapid transitions between very different climates, are a consequence of the ocean circulation. Some of these stories are very exciting, and some border on science fiction. In this talk I will describe what we know of changes taking place in the ocean today, and what our understanding of the modern ocean circulation tells us about the past, and potential future, climate states.

Directions to Kane Hall:
http://www.css.washington.edu/KNE_Directions



For those interested in viewing the lecture, it is available on DVD from the Office of the Program on Climate Change (uwpcc@u.washington.edu 206-543-6521).

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