Revolutions in Climate

Most people today view climate science as a field wholly occupied with the practical problem of global warming. But, as with most scientific endeavors, the field has moved forward by scientists driven by their own curiosity to meet a series of fascinating intellectual challenges, whether or not they had any practical consequences. In this talk, Kerry Emanuel, Cecil & Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT, will tell the stories of the most important revolutions in climate science, from the discovery of the greenhouse effect to the determination of the cause of ice ages, concluding with how these revolutions inform our current view of climate change.