Science Colloquium
The Sun and Climate Change
Paul Charbonneau
Universite de Montreal
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
12:30 - 1:20 PM
Johnson Room 200 (BWH)
While a good part of the global warming observed over the twentieth century is most likely due to emission of greenhouse gases by human activity, the contribution of other natural sources of climate variability remains to be properly understood. Among these, solar influences are an obvious contributor. This talk will focus on possible solar influences on climate variability. I will begin with a very simple model for climate change, that allows us to categorize in a simple manner various influences on climate. I will then give a quick overview of the various manifestations of solar magnetic activity, and close by describing various associated physical mechanisms that could affect climate on Earth on timescales ranging from decades to centuries.
