Description
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published six assessment reports since 1988, confirming the role of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a cause of greenhouse warming and ongoing global climate changes. Critics argue that because scientists have shown the earth’s climate has changed many times in the past, that human activity is an unlikely cause, or that climate changes are beneficial. In this two-part presentation, McFadden discusses the development of the science of “Paleoclimatology” and advances in the understanding of climate change and humanity’s impacts.
Les McFadden is a professor emeritus in the UNM Earth & Planetary Sciences (E&PS) Department. He received an MS & PhD in geosciences from the University of Arizona after earning a BA in anthropology from Stanford. He served as chair of the E&PS Department (1999-2007) and is a fellow of the Geological Society of America (GSA). In 2017 he received the Kirk Bryan Award for Excellence from GSA.