FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Richard Seager, research professor with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University will present the Geosciences Colloquium at 3 p.m. Friday, April 15 in Room 26, Gearhart Hall.

Seager will discuss climate patterns in North America over the past thousand years, and the extent to which past climate patterns can provide insight into the modern and future climate.

Research, using tree rings for example, has shown that western North America suffers epic droughts, lasting decades, that have seriously taxed societies while transforming landscapes and ecosystems. Seager’s research shows that changes in tropical ocean areas have been a major factor, but not the only one.  

He will argue that the past is not always the best guide to the future, and that North America is now transitioning into a different kind of climate, that will bring the risk of extreme drought in the southwest and severe flooding in the northeast.

The Geosciences Colloquium is presented by the Department of Geosciences.