The Centre for Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS), University of Hyderabad, hosted a special lecture by Dr. Annapureddy Phanindra Reddy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, on 20 February 2026. The lecture, titled “Caves, Civilization & Climate – The Stories Earth Left Behind”, focused on high-resolution speleothem records from peninsular India and their role in reconstructing Indian Summer Monsoon variability over the Late Holocene.
Dr. Reddy presented oxygen isotope records that reveal distinct hydroclimatic phases across major climate periods, with wetter conditions during the Dark Age Cold Period, irregular and fluctuating monsoon rainfall during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, and drier conditions during the Little Ice Age, all driven by shifts in the ITCZ, ENSO variability, volcanic forcing, and ocean-atmosphere teleconnections. He further demonstrated how integrating speleothem records with archaeological and inscriptional data sheds light on how monsoon extremes shaped settlement dynamics, irrigation practices, and landscape modification across the Deccan and coastal South India, with drought and floods driving abandonment, migration, and water management innovation.
Dr. Reddy also discussed ongoing work on hydroclimate variability across Asia over longer timescales, emphasising the value of geological archives in linking past climate change with human-environment interactions and in better preparing for future climate challenges in monsoon-dependent regions.
The seminar was followed by an engaging interaction session, where faculty members of CEOAS and Masters and PhD students discussed various aspects of the lecture, as well as broader themes of paleoclimate reconstruction and its implications for understanding present and future monsoon behaviour.
