Chronology of Multiple Time-Scale Climate Events in the Americas; Yucatan, Mexico; March 10-12, 2005

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This award helps support a conference at the University of Yucatan Field Station in Hobonil, Yucatan entitled, "Chronology of Multiple Time-Scale Climate Events in the Americas." The purpose of the workshop is to convene an interdisciplinary group of scholars to discuss the extent and quality of information directly relevant to the understanding of drought in the region over the past 1,500 years. The workshop will examine drought from the perspective of cultural, historical, and scientific evidence and impacts.The organizer's objectives are to: - Define the history of extreme annual, decadal, and multi-decadal droughts in the Americas with the greatest accuracy and precision in dating possible. Evaluate the record of these drought events in multiple historical and paleoclimate archives. - Refine the chronology of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events based on pre-instrumental and qualitative (historical) documentary information from the Americas. Evaluate the pre-instrumental record of ENSO events in the context of high-resolution regional paleoclimate records, such as those from tree rings and ice cores. - Examine the record of ENSO intensity and frequency to evaluate decadal changes in the ENSO system and to learn how low-frequency changes in ENSO may have impacted societies in the Americas. - Explore the means to use high-resolution paleoclimate records to better define periods of persistent drought and floods that could be related to ENSO variability. - Highlight and discuss possible significant societal impacts during the historical period of the Americas since European arrival that may have a plausible connection to ENSO variability.