Talk #129, 6/26/19

129th MEETING OF THE LYNCEAN GROUP OF SAN DIEGO

Date: Wednesday, June 26, 2019, 11:30 AM

Location: Southwestern Yacht Club
2702 Qualtrough Street
San Diego, CA 92106 (Point Loma)

Guest Speaker:  Jeff Severinghaus, Professor, Geosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego

Topic: Climate Change: What have we learned about our future from studying ice-core climate records?

Abstract
Air bubbles in ancient ice preserve the composition of the atmosphere, and tell us
the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the past.  From this
archive of air we know that carbon dioxide levels stayed below 300 parts per
million for at least the last 800,000 years, until humans started burning fossil fuels
around 1850 in the Industrial Revolution.  Today carbon dioxide levels exceed 415
parts per million, and are rising.  Prof. Severinghaus will show how we know that this carbon is not natural, but rather comes from burning coal, oil, and natural gas

The Lyncean coin of appreciation was discovered in an ice core collected by a Lyncean expedition to the Arctic in 2014!
Photograph of Prof. Severinghaus just before he rushed back to his laboratory after the meeting to refreeze and preserve the ice-bound coin.

You can download Prof. Severinghaus’s slides by clicking on the link below:
Prof. Jeff Severinghaus Slides

You can download Pete Lobner’s meeting slides by clicking on the following link:
Meeting Slides 6-26-19