Transcript 2009_NYC_WashU - Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Three Ways New York Might Be
Under Water
Professor Michael Wysession
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
April 20, 2009
Locations of the Major Tectonic “Plates”
Process of
“PLATE
TECTONICS”
Creates many
LARGE
EARTHQUAKES
Pakistan
EQ, 2005
Sichuan EQ,
2008
Sumatra EQ,
2004
Burma
Microplate
Sumatra
Indian
Plate
Sumatra-Andaman Dec 26, 2004 EQ & Tsunami
Destruction of Lisbon, 1755
Massive
landslides in
places like the
Canary
Islands could
cause
enormous
Atlantic
tsunamis.
There have been Giant
Undersea Landslides in
the Puerto Rico Trench.
Global Carbon Dioxide Cycle
Barrow, AK CO2
Carbon Dioxide
Methane
Nitrous Oxide
Chlorofluorocarbons
Correlation between Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and
Global Temperatures
Ice Ages driven by Fluctuations in Earth’s Orbit
2008 - Preliminary
More tornadoes in 2008 than in any
year of the past half-century.
Western US is in a worsening drought.
Projected Precipitation, 2080-209 9
(Base years 1980-1990)
Projected Temperatures, 2080-2090
(Base years 1980-1990)
900-1300 AD: Warm and dry period
 Mayan culture collapses
900-1300 AD: Warm and dry period
 American Southwest cultures like the one at Chaco
Canyon collapse. Anasazi peoples disappear.
Why does the
plague strike
Europe in the
1300s?
1300 AD: Cold spell
due to a minimum in
solar activity
Great famine of
1315-1317
Black Death, 1345
Begins with flooding in China. More than 7 million
drown in Yellow River.
Why does the French
Revolution occur in
1789?
1783: Laki volcano, Iceland; Asama volcano, Japan
After 1815 there is a huge push of U.S. Westward
Expansion. Why?
1816 is known as the “Year without a summer.”
It snows in New England in the summer.
Volcanoes!
1812: Soufriere volcano, St. Vincent Island
1814: Mayon volcano, Philippines
1815: Tambora volcano, Indonesia
Last 10,000 years: VERY warm AND stable!!
With any additional questions,
please contact me at:
[email protected]
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Teaching Company course
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