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SUMMARY:Climate Confusion:  Lessons and Pitfalls in the Study of Climates 
 Past - Professor John Lowe\, Emeritus Professor of Quaternary Science of t
 he University of London\, Gordon Manley Professor of Geography\, Royal Hol
 loway\, University of London
DTSTART:20140313T163000Z
DTEND:20140313T180000Z
UID:TALK49689@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:RSKD
DESCRIPTION:Accurate reconstruction of the timing and pattern of past clim
 ate variations is pivotal to a wide range of scientific studies.  Climate 
 modellers may use the results to test the functioning and/or predictive ca
 pabilities of numerical climate simulations.  Earth scientists use them to
  assess the role of climate forcing on a range of earth surface processes\
 , operating over very different timescales. Archaeologists have long consi
 dered the possible influence of climate on human evolution and dispersal. 
  Part of the remit of environmental science is to understand how climatic 
 factors regulate processes of major societal significance\, such as ground
 water recharge\, aridification and flood recurrence.  These various studie
 s all depend upon the availability of reliable climatic histories\, and an
  understanding of how the global climate system works.  However\, recent d
 iscoveries are increasingly pointing to a serious and pervasive problem in
  this regard\, especially with regard to how we measure the global environ
 mental response to abrupt climatic events (those that take place in less t
 han one hundred years).  In this talk I will endeavour to address\, and to
  stimulate debate about\, three things:  (a) the nature of the problem\, b
 y referring to recent advances in our understanding of the history of glob
 al climate variability during the late Quaternary (the last c.150\,000 yea
 rs or so)\; (b) the promise that new approaches in geological dating offer
  for delivering more precise chronologies of past climatic variation\;  an
 d (c) the challenges that lie ahead\, and that need to be met\, before the
  stamp of climate change on the geo-archaeological record can be appraised
  with more assurance.
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Department of Geography\, Downing Site
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