Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations
December 19, 2017 Belmont Media Center, Belmont MA

Andrew Kemp, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Earth and Ocean Sciences, Tufts University. Dr. Kemp explains the cycles of ocean rise and fall over the past 2000 years. For most of that time these changes were due to natural forces; but the present sealevel rise is due to human-produced climate change.

Dr. Kemp's explains how scientists distinguish the cycles of sea level rise in the past 2000 years from the accelerating rise we observe today. His research focus is on reconstructions of sea-level change over eons. To establish that record of sea level change over very long periods, he combines factors such as salt marsh fossil records, marine and land sediments, and other indicators. We learn how this precise reconstruction uncovers past geological and oceanographic history and how this record is used to help predict the scope of present and future sea level rise.