Climate change in the last million years to be topic of presentation

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) will host a free public presentation titled "Climate Change in the Last Million Years: A Baseline for the Future" on Thursday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Presented by Dr. James White, the presentation will discuss the Earth's climate from one million years ago to today and how it has been marked by large swings in average temperature, rainfall patterns, ice volume and sea level. Dr. White will examine the paleo-environmental records and theories of the drivers behind the observed changes.

Dr. White is a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a fellow and director of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. His research interests include global-scale climate and environmental dynamics and the connection between carbon dioxide concentrations and climate from stable hydrogen isotopes peats.

The presentation is the fifth and final in the 2010-2011 Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series at the LPI. This year’s lecture series is entitled “Changing Climates in the Solar System.”

The LPI is a nonprofit organization whose focus is on academic participation in studies of the current state, evolution and formation of the solar system.

LPI is located in the USRA building at 3600 Bay Area Blvd.

For more information about the Cosmic Explorations Speaker Series, contact Andrew Shaner at 281-486-2163 or shaner@lpi.usra.edu or visit www.lpi.usra.edu/education/lectures.