Controls on the climate and habitability of wet planets like Earth: atmospheric physics to geobiology

Colloquium
Colin Goldblatt
Thursday, November 17, 2016 · 4:00 pm
ESB 5104-06
Hosted by
Sean Crowe, Ashley Davidson

In this seminar, I'll discuss the controls on planetary climate and habitability of planets with liquid water, of which Earth is one example. To do this, I will draw on Earth history, tropical meteorology,  biogeochemical cycling and comparative planetology. Looking at Earth in a wider context is informative to our views of our planet's evolution. Likewise a comparative context Earth's evolution suggests that planetary habitability may be inseparable from inhabitance. To be timely, I'll talk about systematic differences between rotating planets around G-stars (Earth) and tidally locked planets around M-stars (Proxima Centruari b).