Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 6

The deep dive of episode 6 is on the topic of CO2 changes through time. For a full list of references, see the post on my website: https://raisedbeaches.net/2025/07/10/raised-beaches-podcast-episode-6/

Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan

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Episode 6 - Intro
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In the intro, I discuss about the hot start to the summer and my trip to Mt. Aso volcano. I discuss about my experience at the Japan Geoscience Union conference in May, highlighting some of the interesting talks I saw. I briefly discuss Canada's first mission to Antarctica. Finally I give some commentary on the cuts being made to Earth science in the United States.

CBC documentary on Canada's scientific mission to Antarctica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwe6ptJ2gkY

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Episode 6 Deep Dive - CO2 changes through time
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I discuss why CO2 changes naturally. I give an overview of CO2 changes in the recent past, as well in the deep time period, covering the past 480 million years. I discuss why the current CO2 levels are unprecedented.

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Episode 6 - More on the CO2 changes through time
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I discuss the efforts to find ice older than 800,000 years old in Antarctica to measure past CO2 levels, and discuss about the difference between C3 and C4 plants and their importance in terms of CO2 levels.

Hui et al (2021) - Intensified fire activity induced by aridification facilitated Late Miocene C4 plant expansion in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau, China: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110437

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Episode 6 - Papers
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I discuss a recent paper I published about changes to the rainfall in Eastern Asia due to sea level changes.

Gowan et al (2025) - Impact of topographic change on the East Asian monsoon in Japan and Eastern Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-024-00681-4

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Thank you to:
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Raised Beaches Podcast logo by Aurooj: https://www.instagram.com/artbytinyleaf/
Sean for the Raised Beaches Podcast theme song
That Blasted Salami, who helped me get started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5GTc4yWm-yiBFTuV3MsGaQ

Follow Dr. Evan J. Gowan on social media:

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @evangowan.bsky.social

Raised Beaches Podcast: Episode 5

For a full list of references, see my website: https://raisedbeaches.net/2025/03/09/raised-beaches-podcast-episode-5/

Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan

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Episode 5 - Intro
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I discuss what I have been doing from late December 2024 to the end of February 2025, including watching Sakurajima volcano erupt, and an earthquake I felt in January. I discuss downloading sediment core data from NOAA and the attacks on the government science institutions in the United States. Finally, I have a discussion on DEI.

My recently published papers:

- Rovere et al (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2025.109659
- Gowan et al (2025): https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-024-00681-4

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Episode 5 Deep Dive - Greenhouse Effect
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I introduce the Greenhouse Effect, and why even though the concentration of greenhouse gases are small, they play a large role in keeping the planet at a livable temperature.

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Episode 5 - More on the Greenhouse Effect
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I discuss the historical background on how the Greenhouse Effect was discovered, as well as how it came to be called the "greenhouse effect". I also discuss the greenhouse effect on Venus and Mars.

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Episode 5 - Papers
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The first paper I go over is on determining paleo sea level from a beach ridge in Argentina. This research was part of the WARMCOASTS project, which I was part of. I briefly go through four other papers.

References:

- Rovere et al (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2025.109659
- Barker et al (2025): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp3491
- Creel et al (2024): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54535-0
- de Wit et al (2025): https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-545-2025
- Vacchi et al (2025): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56721-0

Thanks to Alessio Rovere for some of the pictures used here, and of course for being a great mentor on investigating raised coastal deposits!

WARMCOASTS - Sea level and extreme waves in the Last Interglacial: This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 802414)

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Thank you to:
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Raised Beaches Podcast logo by Aurooj: https://www.instagram.com/artbytinyleaf/
Sean for the Raised Beaches Podcast theme song
That Blasted Salami, who helped me get started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5GTc4yWm-yiBFTuV3MsGaQ

Follow Dr. Evan J. Gowan on social media:

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @evangowan.bsky.social

The deep dive of episode 4 is on Milankovitch Cycles. For a full list of references, see the post on my website: https://raisedbeaches.net/2024/12/30/raised-beaches-podcast-episode-4/

Listen here: https://raisedbeaches.buzzsprout.com/

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan

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Episode 4 - Intro
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I discuss what I have been doing in November and December 2024, as well as an overview of all of 2024.

- Current work on ice sheet reconstructions.
- Trip to Okinawa and a discussion on the sea level indicators there, based on beachrock.
- Some discussion of the Aso Caldera in Kyushu.
- The anomalously hot water around Japan, and how it is affecting the fisheries.
- The ammonite fossil exhibit at Kumamoto University.
- Overview of my activities in 2024.


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Episode 4 Deep Dive - Milankovitch Cycles
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I introduce Milankovitch Orbital Theory and Milankovitch Cycles, and why orbital variability is the main control on paleoclimate changes. I also give examples of well known proxy records that demonstrate Milankovitch Cycles.

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Episode 4 - More on Milankovitch Cycles
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I discuss about James Croll's hypothesis on orbital changes being responsible for climate changes, which predates Milankovitch's theory, Charles Darwin's remarks on it, as well as why it was not accepted. I also discuss Milankovitch Cycles on Mars.


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Episode 4 - Papers
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I discuss a paper that I am coauthor on, led by Karla Rubio-Sandoval, which is an investigation of four raised beach/shoreline deposits in Camarones, Argentina. This research was part of the WARMCOASTS project, which I was part of.

References:

- Rubio-Sandoval et al (2024) - Quaternary and Pliocene sea-level changes at Camarones, central Patagonia, Argentina: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108999

Thanks to Alessio Rovere for some of the pictures used here, and of course for being a great mentor on investigating raised coastal deposits!

WARMCOASTS - Sea level and extreme waves in the Last Interglacial: This project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 802414)

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Thank you to:
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Raised Beaches Podcast logo by Aurooj: https://www.instagram.com/artbytinyleaf/
Sean for the Raised Beaches Podcast theme song
That Blasted Salami, who helped me get started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5GTc4yWm-yiBFTuV3MsGaQ

Follow Dr. Evan J. Gowan on social media:

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @evangowan.bsky.social

The deep dive of episode 3 is on proxy records.

For a full list of references, see the post on my website: https://raisedbeaches.net/2024/11/01/raised-beaches-podcast-episode-3/

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Episode 3 - Intro
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I discuss about how autumn is late coming to Japan, and my geological observations from my recent trip to Nagasaki. I talk about the devastating hurricanes in the southeastern United States, and how Hurricane Helene affected the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). I discuss a newly published paper on the rate of sea level rise. Finally, I introduce the Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography Database, and some of the issues I have had with it.

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Episode 3 Deep Dive - Proxy Records
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I introduce what proxy records are and give some examples about what kind of proxy records paleoclimate scientists use to infer past climate.

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Episode 3 - More on Proxy Records
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I give some background on how I learned about proxy records. I also describe the most famous proxy record, LRO4. Finally I discuss the end of the JOIDES Resolution, and the costs of collecting proxy records.

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Episode 3 - Papers
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I discuss a paper I am coauthor on about methane fluxes in Beringia, a glacial and sea level history of southern Banks Island and the Amundsen Gulf in northwestern Canada, and a 485 million year surface temperature reconstruction.

- Fuchs et al (2024), Methane flux from Beringian coastal wetlands for the past 20,000 years: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108976
- Vaughan et al (2024), Passage and removal of the Amundsen Gulf Ice Stream, NW Laurentide Ice Sheet, recorded by the glacial and sea level history of southern Banks Island, Arctic Canada: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108880
- Judd et al (2024), A 485-million-year history of Earth's surface temperature: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk3705

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Thank you to:
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Raised Beaches Podcast logo by Aurooj: https://www.instagram.com/artbytinyleaf/
Sean for the Raised Beaches Podcast theme song
That Blasted Salami, who helped me get started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5GTc4yWm-yiBFTuV3MsGaQ

Follow Dr. Evan J. Gowan on social media:

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @evangowan.bsky.social

The main topic of episode 2 is on sea level and deviations from sea level. For a full list of references, see the post on my website:

https://raisedbeaches.net/2024/10/16/raised-beaches-podcast-episode-2/

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Epsiode 2 - Intro
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I discuss about my activities from June to late July, including my stay at the Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences, and the University at Buffalo. I then discuss about the global temperature record that was achieved in July 2024. I give an overview of a study on the climate impacts of the Hunga Tonga eruption from 2022, and a study that puts the 2023 temperatures in context with the past 2000 years. Finally, I discuss about the wildfires that affected the Canadian town of Jasper in July 2024, and discus my trip to that area back in 2009.

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Epsiode 2 - Main Topic
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I discuss about "what is sea level", and some deviations from this constant surface. This includes tides, storm surges, tsunamis, ocean current shifts, and temperature/salinity changes.

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Epsiode 2 - More Main Topic
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In this further discussion, I talk about my experience teaching about sea level change at the Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences, a new book on sea level, how we measure sea level, and tsunamis.

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Epsiode 2 - Papers
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In this episode, I discuss a paper about Holocene sea level fluctuations due to changes in the ENSO cycle in southern China, and a paper about a major tsunami that happened in eastern Greenland in September 2023.

- Yan et al (2024) - Significant Sea‐Level Fluctuations in the Western Tropical Pacific During the Mid‐Holocene: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023PA004783
- Svennevig et al (2024) - A rockslide-generated tsunami in a Greenland fjord rang Earth for 9 days: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adm9247

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Thank you to:
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Raised Beaches Podcast logo by Aurooj: https://www.instagram.com/artbytinyleaf/
Sean for the Raised Beaches Podcast theme song
That Blasted Salami, who helped me get started: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5GTc4yWm-yiBFTuV3MsGaQ

Follow Dr. Evan J. Gowan on social media:

Mastodon: @[email protected] 

Bluesky: @evangowan.bsky.social

This is episode 1 of the Raised Beaches Podcast. This is the culmination of many months of planning to produce a podcast to discuss topics related to paleoclimate, Earth science and global change. In this episode, I introduce myself and discuss the highlights of the 2024 Japan Geoscience Union conference. The deep dive explains what "raised beaches" are. Finally I highlight a recent paper discussing a climate proxy record from the Marine Isotope Stage 11c interglacial.

-- Raised Beaches Podcast on Youtube --

https://www.youtube.com/@evangowan

-- Raised Beaches website --

https://raisedbeaches.net/

Follow Dr. Evan J. Gowan on social media:

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @evangowan.bsky.social

-- Thank you to --

Raised Beaches Podcast logo by Aurooj: https://www.instagram.com/artbytinyleaf/
Sean for the Raised Beaches Podcast theme song
That Blasted Salami, who helped me get started (on Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5GTc4yWm-yiBFTuV3MsGaQ
Dr. Tomita at Kumamoto University, who has supported me the past three years.

My trip to Argentina was part of a European Research Council funded project called WARMCOASTS, which is led by Dr. Alessio Rovere - https://warmcoasts.eu/index.html

-- Introduction  --

In the introduction, I introduce myself, and discuss the 2024 Japan Geoscience Union conference.

"My dream died, and now I'm here" by Sabine Hossenfelder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKiBlGDfRU8
Itaki et al (2020): using machine learning to detect radiolarians -  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-77812-6

-- Episode 1 Deep Dive: Raised Beaches --

I introduce what raised beaches are, and how they form. I then recount a conflict in the early era of geology with regards to raised beaches. Finally, I discuss my own experience investigating raised beaches and beach ridges in Argentina.

A full list of references can be found on the Raised Beaches website:

https://raisedbeaches.net/2024/09/06/raised-beaches-podcast-episode-1/

-- Episode 1 Papers --

Hu et al (2024): Sustained North Atlantic warming drove anomalously intense MIS 11c interglacial - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50207-1
Tzedakis et al (2022): Marine Isotope Stage 11c: An unusual interglacial - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107493