Record freezing temperatures and global warming – let our experts explain

This week has seen temperatures drop to record lows. Across the mid-west, a polar vortex coupled with biting winds saw temperatures plunge below minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the word has been focusing on climate change, its causes and effects – this week stands as a stellar example of the impacts of global warming. Despite the tweets and trolls of prominent politicians somehow aligning a deep freeze as a counter argument for climate change the evidence is becoming more clear - with global warming, comes warnings far more worrisome.  

Dr. Pamela Grothe, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Mary Washington, was recently quoted in the Guardian about how global warming is forecasting a grim future at the rate we are going.

“Warmer temperatures and associated lower oxygen levels in the ocean are sufficient to explain the observed extinctions we see in the fossil record”, she says.

“We are already seeing warming ocean temperatures and lower oxygen in many regions, currently affecting marine ecosystems. If we continue in the trajectory, we are on with current emission rates, this study highlights the potential that we may see similar rates of extinction in marine species as in the end of the Permian.”

• And is this just the beginning?
• What other extremes can we expect to see in our weather?
• Can that trajectory Dr. Grothe reference be turned around or slowed down?
• And what species are the most vulnerable and what ripple effect will that have on our oceans?

There are a lot of questions to be asked – and that’s where the experts from the University of Mary Washington can help.

Dr. Pamela Grothe is an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences as the University of Mary Washington. She recently completed a Ph.D. in the Paleoclimatology Lab at the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her current research involves a study of the central Pacific climate and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability over the past 6000 years through the analysis of coral fossil records. She’s an #expert in climate change and is available to speak with media – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.