Schenectady, N.Y. (May 13, 2002) –
Donald T. Rodbell, associate professor of geology at Union College, will speak
on “Global Climate Change: The View from the Tropical Andes” on Tuesday, May
21, at 11:30 a.m. in the F.W. Olin Center Auditorium at Union College.
The talk, a Union College faculty
colloquium, is free and open to the public.
Rodbell specializes in the geology
of the Andes Mountains in Peru and Ecuador, and his research centers on what the region can tell about long-term changes in global climate.
He was the lead author of a 1999
article in Science that suggested that during the past 5,000 years, El Niño occurred every two to eight years, the same frequency we see in modern times. The study also suggested that the phenomenon was weak or non-existent between 5,000 and 12,000 years ago.
Rodbell also is a co-author of a
paper to be published his month in Science about a study suggesting that the tropics may drive the global climate system. “The results of this study really fly in the face of conventional wisdom about climate change on glacial-interglacial time scales,” he said. “For years we have been led to believe that the high latitudes — particularly in the Northern Hemisphere — hold the key to globally synchronous climate change.”
Rodbell's research has been
supported by a number of grants from
the National Science Foundation.
At Union since 1993, he holds a
bachelor's from St. Lawrence University, and master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado.
For calendar listings:
Speaker: Donald T. Rodbell, associate professor of geology at
Union College
Topic: “Global Climate Change: The View from the Tropical
Andes”
Date: Tuesday, May 21
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Place: F.W. Olin Center Auditorium
Cost: free and open to the public
Information: 388-6131