World authorities on the history of climate change are converging on Wellington for a conference on the greenhouse climate of the Paleogene period, 65 to 35 million years ago.
The Paleogene was the last time that the Earth experienced greenhouse climate conditions and associated global warming on a scale comparable to projected future global warming.
The conference will include a one day "Greenhouse Earth Symposium" on January 14 in which leading international research scientists will showcase the role that research into the ancient greenhouse world of the Paleogene plays in advancing understanding of modern climate change.
Presentations will be targeted toward a non-specialist audience with an interest in the science behind climate change and, specifically, greenhouse gas-induced global warming.
A common theme to several presentations is the discovery that during times of extreme global warming sea temperatures in polar and temperate regions, such as New Zealand, soared to levels far higher than is predicted by climate models.
The conference, "Climatic and Biotic Events of the Paleogene", has drawn together 130 scientists and students from over 20 countries, and runs from January 12 to January 15.
The conference will be preceded and followed by field excursions to examine New Zealand's unique record of climate change during Paleogene times in Canterbury, Marlborough, Otago, Westland, Hawkes Bay and even the Chatham Islands.
It is hosted by GNS Science and the Greenhouse Earth Symposium is sponsored by Victoria University of Wellington through the Climate Change Research Institute, the Antar ctic Research Centre and the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences
NZPA