Earth
Richard McGehee
The Mathematics of Climate Change Seminar
University of Minnesota
School of Mathematics

 

Fall 2010 Schedule

 

 
 
   
   
September 8, 2010
       The Case for Anthropogenic Warming I, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
       The scientific evidence for global warming and for the impact of human activity on the climate is presented and discussed.
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September 15, 2010
       The Case for Anthropogenic Warming II, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
       The scientific evidence for global warming and for the impact of human activity on the climate continues to be presented and discussed.
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September 29, 2010
       An Introduction to Earth's Glacial Cycles, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
       For the last million years, Earth's climate has alternated between periods where vast ice sheets cover much of the northern continents and periods of relative warmth, such as we have been experiencing for the last 8000 years. The theory that changes in Earth's orbital parameters are driving these cycles will be explored in this lecture.
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October 6, 2010
       Recent Developments in the Theory of Glacial Cycles, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
       The 21st Century has produced a variety of advances toward resolving the discrepancies between the climate record and the predictions of the Milankovitch theory.
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October 13, 2010
       Underwater Mathematics: Illuminating Deep-Reaching Ocean Eddies in Climate Models, Samantha Oestreicher, School of Mathematics
      

Understanding ocean circulation is vital to developing accurate predictive models for global climate change. Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL's) Climate, Ocean and Sea Ice Modeling project (COSIM) specializes in very high resolution computer modeling. The model output from these runs provides valuable data in areas we can't normally observe like under Arctic ice sheets or in deep waters.

Our aim is to characterize eddies in the more challenging realm of the Arctic, where very little is known. Several eddy identification markers will be discussed as well as the results of those markers on COSIM's Parallel Ocean Program (POP). Warning: This talk contains accessible mathematics and some awesome images!

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October 20, 2010
       Carbon Sequestration in North American Peatlands, Clarence Lehman, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
      

Peatlands store large amounts of carbon and may play a role in the glacial cycles.

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October 27, 2010
       An Introduction to Energy Balance Models, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
      

Simple models of the balance between the energy from the sun and the energy reradiated into space can explain some global features of the Earth's climate.

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November 3, 2010
       Adding carbon to conceptual models: an introduction to Hogg's model and others, Samantha Oestreicher, School of Mathematics
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November 10, 2010
       An Introduction to Data Assimilation, James Melbourne, School of Mathematics
 
 
November 17, 2010
       Huyber's Glacial Cycles Model, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
      

The long period late Pleistocene glacial cycles can be viewed as driven by obliquity under the assumption that certain obliquity changes do not trigger deglaciations. Huyber's paper is available online.

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December 1, 2010
       Huyber's Glacial Cycles Model II, Richard McGehee, School of Mathematics
      

The long period late Pleistocene glacial cycles can be viewed as driven by obliquity under the assumption that certain obliquity changes do not trigger deglaciations. Huyber's paper is available online.

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December 8, 2010
       Hansen's Target for Atmospheric CO2 , Samantha Oestreicher, School of Mathematics
      

Hansen et al examine glacial cycles to determine the effect of greenhouse gasses on global temperatures. The paper is available online.

   
 

Last update: January 22, 2011 ©2011 Richard McGehee