Past Global Changes (PAGES) will be holding six sessions related to climate history at this year’s Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The AGU Fall Meeting will be held from December 12-16, 2016 in San Francisco, USA. Abstract submissions are due August 3, 2016 and student travel grant applications are due August 10, 2016. Click here for a description of each session and more information on abstract submissions.
Climate History at the AMOS Annual Conference, February 2017
The Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) is holding an interdisciplinary conference on climate. One area of focus for the conference is on climate and history, with specific attention to the Anthropocene and interactions between humans and climate. The conference will also hold panels on contemporary issues associated with climate change, such as risk management and health. The conference will be held from February 7-10, 2017, in Canberra, Australia. The call for abstract submissions will go out in two weeks (Monday, June 28, 2016) at www.amos.org.au. Click here to download a conference poster with more information.
Call for Papers: Georgetown University Graduate Conference on Global Environmental History
The Department of History at Georgetown University invites paper proposals from graduate students for a one-day conference on world environmental history. Papers dealing with all themes in environmental history, from every world region and during any time period, are welcome. The conference will be held on November 5, 2016 at Georgetown University. Interested students should submit a 200-300 word abstract and a brief curriculum vitae to Faisal Husain (fh204@georgetown.edu). The deadline for abstract submissions is June 17, 2016. Successful applicants will be notified in early July and asked to submit a full version of their papers by September 23. Click here for more information.
Hunger and Famine in Medieval Societies
The Junior Research Group is holding a special session on hunger and famine in medieval societies as part of the International Medieval Congress at Leeds. The session is organized in two panels which aim to explore the causes, courses, and consequences of famines in the Middle Ages. There is a special focus on adverse climate impacts, which, along with changing social, economic, and political conditions, often exacerbated food crises and resulted in famines. The International Medieval Congress will be held at the University of Leeds from July 4 to 7, 2016. Click here for more information.
Climate Change and History Research Initiative Annual Colloquium
On Monday, May 23, 2016 the Climate Change and History Research Initiative at Princeton University will be hosting a multidisciplinary conference. The theme of the conference is resilience to climate change in Eurasia and the Mediterranean. There will be four panels, with two to three speakers presenting in each, as well as a concluding session. Each panel will be followed by a roundtable discussion. The event will take place at 216 Aaron Burr, Princeton University, between 9:00am and 6:00pm. Click here to download a conference poster with more information.
The Global Cooling Event of the Sixth Century. Mystery No Longer?
Dr. Tim Newfield, Princeton University.
The June 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines was one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the twentieth century. It is well documented. There are living witnesses, newspaper articles, detailed surveys of the mountain before and after it blew its top, and satellite maps of the ejecta. The eruption was photographed from the ground and the air, and today you can even YouTube it. Pinatubo released up to 20 megatons of sulphur dioxide as many as 35 kilometers into the sky. It turned into fine sulphuric acid aerosol, and, within weeks, enveloped much of the Earth. The aerosols were suspended in the atmosphere for around two years. While there, they "veiled" the sun by absorbing or "backscattering" solar radiation. That heated the stratosphere but cooled Earth's surface. Read more
NASA’s Role in Climate History
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958. The agency’s initial purpose was to develop aerospace technologies that would help the U.S. compete with the Soviet Union in the Space Race. However, NASA’s programs soon expanded into other areas. As the agency’s programs evolved in the latter half of the twentieth century, NASA became more involved in Earth Sciences. In 1984 Congress revised the Space Act to be more inclusive of research on Earth’s climate. Today NASA satellites play an important role in collecting data that scientist use to study climate change. A brief article on NASA’s website explores the agency’s initial expansion into Earth Sciences and its growing role in providing the technological means to document changes in the Earth's climate. Click here to read the article.