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Connections: Monthly Science Roundtable - What Caused Global Cooling 3.6 Million Years Ago?

In our Monthly Science Roundtable, we look at climate change and global cooling...3.6 million years ago.

How did the northern hemisphere, which didn't have much ice four million years ago, end up with continental ice sheets by roughly 2.7 million years ago? There are a number of ideas that could explain the global cooling. The National Science Foundation recently awarded $4.24 million to two University of Rochester researchers to launch a joint U.S.-China research project studying the role of CO2 in reverse global warming.

We'll also explore why researchers now believe our magnetic field is 500 million years older than previously thought. What does that mean for sustaining life and what might that mean for life on Mars? Our guests:

  • Carmala Garzione, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester
  • JohnTarduno, professor and director of undergraduate programs in geosciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Rochester 

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.