Greg M. Schwartz reports that despite having had a heart transplant three years before, Dr. Lonnie Thompson (Professor from The Ohio State University), ascended to 22,000 feet and braved -35 degree F temperatures on a mountain peak in far western China in 2015 to do his job as an ice-core paleoclimatologist. The renowned Professor has extracted and examined ice cores from around the world since 1974. He testified before the U.S. Senate about global warming in 1992, detailing the havoc climate change is wreaking on the planet.
The testimony came in the wake of Thompsons 1991 realization that something unprecedented was happening when he observed melting taking place at the summit of the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru. The melting was washing away vital historic data, something that had not happened in 1,800 years of records there. That was the first time that [he said] ok, there is something really significant going on here on a longer time scale, Thompson said, who noted that a recent visit in 2015 revealed the ice cap is now smaller than it has been in at least 6,600 years.
By examining ancient ice cores and their surroundings, Thompson assesses how rapidly ecosystems changed in the past, then compares those systems to current systems to forecast the climate changes that await current and future generations.
The IPCC has said that a 5-degree rise would lead to major extinctions around the globe and to a reconfiguration of coastlines worldwide. A recent report published by the National Academy of Sciences indicated that doing nothing to reduce climate change would lead to a sea-level rise that would pose an existential threat to cities such as Boston, New York, Miami and New Orleans.
Resource Portal for I2M Clients, Associates, and Geoscientists
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-