Contact: Maridith Geuder
To trace climatic changes that span hundreds of thousands of years, scientists often turn to ice core samples extracted from polar glaciers.
On Sept. 30, researcher John Mylroie will lead a public program at Mississippi State University that examines what some of these samples seem to indicate.
"Carbon Dioxide and the Ice Age: Implications for Global Warming" begins at 3:30 p.m. in Colvard Union's small auditorium. A question-and-answer period will conclude Mylroie's presentation, the first in a public-interest program series planned during 1998-99 by the MSU chapter Sigma Xi international research society.
"The amount of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere has increased by 25 percent over the last 300 years," said Mylroie, an MSU geology professor. "One interpretation says this change may mean that we will experience a warmer climate.
"There is much debate about this," he added, noting that "there appear to be significant natural variations without human influence going back more than 100,000 years."
Mylroie said core samples often yield valuable clues about historical levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that usually are associated with climatic warming. Caribbean coral reefs and limestone islands also tell a story about carbon dioxide levels over time.
His research in the Bahamas will be the program's starting point.
For more information on his presentation or other Sigma Xi programs, telephone Frank Howell at (601) 325-2014.