GSNZ Public Lecture: The Earth System with Mike Hannah

The Earth System is the fully automated life support system. Over millions of years, it has attempted to maintain climate in an equilibrium position, one that is suitable for the continuation of life As a result the earth has become increasingly habitable. However, though our burning of fossil fuels and the damage we are inflicting on the biosphere we are applying a forcing to the Earth System that could upset this equilibrium point.

The fossil record shows that, in the past, such a shift in the climatic equilibrium is associated with a Mass Extinction.

In this talk I will show evidence for the presence of the Earth System and discuss how it originated. I will also compare the situation we find ourselves in with mass extinctions of the past.

Like my book this talk is aimed at a general audience.

About the speaker

Mike Hannah is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington He completed his PhD at Adelaide University, specialising in palaeontology and biostratigraphy. This was followed by a stint in industry after which he took up the position at Victoria University. Throughout his career he has been fascinated by the story of the evolution of early life on Earth and the terrifying consequences of the mass extinctions that are evident in the fossil record. He has published a book (Extinctions – living and dying in the margin of error – Cambridge University Press) which focuses on the Earth System, mass extinctions and assesses the likelihood that we are in the early stages of such an event.

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