What can corals in the tropical Pacific tell us about climate change?

Tropical Pacific islands may seem like remote paradises, but they are at the forefront of climate change: they face rising seas, shifting patterns of drought, and coral reef death. Corals are the ocean’s history books, forming layers that record changes in climate as they grow.  These corals tell stories about the past that can teach us about future climate—not only in the tropical Pacific, but here in Tucson as well.

Emma Reed is a Ph.D. student in the College of Science, Department of Geosciences. Her research uses corals from across the tropical Pacific, from the Galapagos to the Marshall Islands, to reconstruct past climate variability and change.

This talk is a part of the Fall 2019 Science Café series hosted by the UA College of Science in partnership with Borderlands Brewing Company.

Water, Water Everywhere - But Will it Always Be?

Water is the key to life as we know it. And scientists have long realized water’s vitality, but its patterns—from rivers to rain and more—are becoming harder to predict. A little extra or a little less can have cascading effects. The water norms we grew up with aren’t the norms of the future or even the present. Researchers in the UA Carson Scholars program are working to understand how changes in water fluctuation and frequency will effect humans, animals and places. By looking at different ecosystems and different “kinds” of water, and by working with the people and species who have to adapt, we are getting closer to understanding what the future might hold. In this series, we will talk water and life, from Africa to Arizona and from ice ages to ice melt.