Wednesday the 12th October 2022, 2pm AEDT (Sydney time)
Dr Christina Riesselman, University of Otago
How warm is too warm for Antarctica? 3-million-year-old lessons from a 400 ppm world.
Abstract
When the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, it represented a multi-national commitment to cap global warming below +2°C in 2100, while pursuing carbon policies aimed at limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C. So what difference does half a degree make? The marine sediment record of the late Pliocene, most recent geologic interval of sustained Paris-target global temperatures, reveals that Antarctic ice sheets and ocean circulation responded sensitively to small changes in climate during this time. This evidence suggests that, by overshooting the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious target of +1.5°C, humanity risks nudging the Antarctic / Southern Ocean system across a tipping point.
Bio
Christina is a senior lecturer in the departments of Geology and Marine Science at the University of Otago. A veteran of eight Antarctic and Southern Ocean expeditions, she is co-PI of the New Zealand Antarctic Science Platform Project 2 - Antarctic Ocean Mechanics: Past, Present and Future, and currently serves on the science committee of the Australia and New Zealand International Ocean Discovery Programme Consortium.