Geology Bites Features Isabel Montañez on Earth's Ancient Ice Ages and Today's Climate

UC Davis Distinguished Professor Isabel Montañez recently joined Geology Bites to discuss how Earth's climate history can help scientists understand the effects of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The episode focuses on the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, a period spanning approximately 360 to 255 million years ago. Although separated from the present by hundreds of millions of years, this interval offers an opportunity to investigate how elevated atmospheric CO₂ influenced ice sheets, ocean circulation and marine environments.

Montañez discusses how scientists use geological evidence, including chemical signatures preserved in ancient materials, to reconstruct past climate conditions. She also describes how Earth-system modeling can help researchers investigate the climate feedbacks and ocean changes associated with increasing CO₂.

Montañez is the Chancellor's Leadership Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Davis.

Listen to the episode: Isabel Montañez on the Late Paleozoic Ice Age as an Analog for Present-Day Climate on Geology Bites.