Department Seminars

General Information

When: Thursdays from 4:00–4:50 p.m.
Where: 1170 TMCB

Summer Rupper
Brigham Young University
Department of Geological Sciences

2007-10-11

Ice Core Paleoclimate Proxy Records and Climate—a "Weather-up" Approach

Characterizing natural climate variability is essential to understanding climate change and climate impacts on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as to our ability to predict climate. The short instrumental record, however, makes it difficult to characterize climate variability on decadal and longer timescales. Ice cores provide one possible means to extend the climate record into the pre-instrumental era. However, ice core proxy records are not widely accepted as reliable indicators of climate, except on very long (e.g. millennial) timescales. This talk will critically evaluate the degree to which one such record--an ice core drilled at Mt. Logan, Yukon--can be interpreted as a measure of climate variability.