Conferència de Rainer Zhan

• Títol: From Past Oceans to Future Climates: The Marine Geological Record of Climate Change
• Conferenciant: Rainer Zhan
• Lloc de procedència del conferenciant: Institut de Ciències i Tecnologies Ambientals, UAB
• Organitzador: Dept. d'Astronomia i Meteorologia
• A/e de contacte: ileanablade@ub.edu (Ileana Bladé)
• Data: Dimarts, 16 de maig de 2006
• Hora: 13:00
• Lloc: Seminari Dept. d'Astronomia i Meteorologia
• Idioma: Anglès
• Resum: One of the most controversial issues in environmental research today relates to the effect that future global warming will have on the ocean circulation because a reorganization of the globally connected system of ocean currents - collectively referred to as the Ocean Conveyor Circulation - is the only known viable mechanism to induce substantial global-scale and notably, abrupt (<30 years) climate changes. Records of past marine climates, derived from deep-sea sediment cores, show that abrupt climate changes are not a new phenomenon but have occurred several times in the past. During such events the Ocean Conveyor has undergone considerable slow-down, perhaps even a complete collapse. Scenarios of Ocean Conveyor slow-down form an integral part of climate prediction exercises that are carried out currently under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change so as to test the climate sensitivity to increasing atmospheric CO2. The marine palaeoclimate record demonstrates the stability and behavior of the Ocean Conveyor Circulation from a palaeo-perspective and may provide guidance in the assessment of future climate development under a continued human influence.