CLIMATE CHANGE:

AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR

CONNECTING THE PUBLIC

WITH GEOLOGY & THE GEOLOGIC RECORD

Ellen Morris BishopOREGON PALEOLANDS

INSTITUTE Fossil, Oregon

www.paleolands.org

OREGON PALEO LANDS INSTITUTEA new, educational non-profit in Oregon,

dedicated to connecting the public with Oregon’s natural and geologic history.

Connect an issue of great concern to the public with geologic process and geologic history.

One strategy for making geology compelling:

In the John Day Basin, that subject is climate change.

PROBLEM:

PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF GEOLOGY:

“It’s just about rocks”

“I don’t have to worry about __ (volcanoes, earthquakes,

landslides…)”

“It happened a LONG time ago.”

“It’s not relevant to my life.”

PROBLEM:

PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE: “It’s just about melting glaciers.”

“I don’t have to worry about ___ (polar bears, sea level, forest fires…)”

“It’s never happened before/Scientist’s can’t agree.

“It’s not relevant to my life”

THE REALITY:

It’s about extinctions, resources, and water.

Yes, we DO have to worry about it.

Yes, it happened a LONG time ago, too.

Yes, it IS relevant to your life.

The past is a guide to the present--and future.

WHAT THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND:

THE GEOLOGIC RECORD PROVIDES

VALUABLE INSIGHT TO

Past Climates

Greenhouse gas--climate linkages

Oceanic-climate linkages

Climate change--extinction coupling

How bad it can really get.

The public is hungry

for information

to validate

climate change predictions.

The geologic record provides

exceptional insight

and verifies

the reality of climate change

the history of today’s climate change processes.

CLIMATE CHANGE GIVES THE GEOLOGIC RECORD

CONTEXT

RELEVANCE

LOCAL LANDSCAPES ARE OFTEN THE MOST MEANINGFUL!

By emphasizing the geologic record of past global warming and global cooling, we can demonstrate that:

It’s about rocks: Geologic information provides lessons for today.

IT is VERY relevant to your life today.

It happened a LONG time ago--AND it’s happening today.

Few sciences are MORE relevant to your life.

AND, FINALLY: Geologic history --and time periods more than just “Jurassic”--- should be part of your working knowledge and vocabulary.

SOME EXAMPLES:

CONNECTING THE PUBLIC

WITH GEOLOGY & GEOLOGIC HISTORY

THRU CLIMATE CHANGE:

Snowball earth--Late Proterozoic cold-warm cycles: carbon sequestration/greenhouse gases.

End-Permian Event: extreme CO2, temperatures, extinctions.

PETM: Global warming spike due to greenhouse gas.

Eocene-Oligocene boundary: Changes due to oceanic circulation.

After Leeman, 1999,

An example from the John Day Fossil Beds:

The Eocene-Oligocene climate transition

Locally accessible for field trips. Familiar ground. Visually stunning record of tropical laterite to humid-temperate soils. Multiple lines of evidence: documented fossil record, paleo-botany paleosols isotopes/geochronology

Some Lessons Learned:

Eocene, Oligocene, Antarctic snows, oceanic circulation, ecological effects of climate change……..

A BOTTOM LINE:To ascend to higher public awareness,

geology and geologic history

must be perceived as relevant to public interests.

The CLIMATE CHANGE RECORD

provides a framework of pragmatic outcomes

supports social discourse as well as positive, economically and environmentally beneficial actions.

Providing insight to ongoing climate change

Empowers geology’s role in public affairs.

Increases public acceptance of geology as a

meaningful and useful knowledge base.

Past climate changes demonstrate

the relevance of the geologic record to public concerns.

THANKS

SO VERY MUCH

FOR YOUR ATTENTION !!!