Physics (Internal)

Global Warming: State of the Science

This event is part of the Physics Department Colloquia Series.

Abstract: The early years of the twenty-first century are collectively the warmest Earth has seen since record keeping began in the mid-nineteenth century— and almost certainly in the past two millennia. The climate of recent years is only one of many new pieces of evidence for an unprecedented warming of our planet in the past few decades. Both observations and modeling suggest independently that the dominant cause of this warming is human activity— in particular, our fossil-fuel consumption and the resulting increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide. This talk reviews the latest evidence for human-induced global warming, explores the science behind our changing climate, and outlines scenarios for possible climatic futures. The talk is intended for a general audience, but with enough science to be of interest to scientists and science students as well.