Predictions show extreme weather threats, including floods, wildfires, and droughts, will get worse in the future if global temperatures continue to rise as a result of human activity.
Scientists are crucial for our understanding of climate change and global warming. Climate scientists observe weather changes on a global scale and predict how variations will affect Earth’s local, regional, and global climates, both presently and in the future.
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change is a variation of average weather patterns that cause conditions to change, such as the planet becoming colder, warmer, or drier over several decades or longer. Climate change is also the study of global warming and its observable effects on the environment.
Though they often don’t get the same recognition as movie stars or politicians, climate scientists play a huge role in safeguarding the future of the planet. They often lead the charge in coming up with new ways to study climate change, explain global warming to the masses, and even curb its effects.
Here, we highlight five of the world’s top climate scientists, their careers, and their most significant contributions to our understanding of climate change.
Top Climate Change Scientists
Syukuro Manabe
Known For
Developing the first atmospheric model of Earth’s climate.
Why It Matters
Manabe’s computerized models, first created in 1967, found that increased greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming. His models sparked the beginning of long-term research into climate change.
Susan Solomon
Known For
Pioneering the theory about how and why the ozone hole occurred in Antarctica.
Why It Matters
Solomon’s theory advanced the understanding of the global ozone layer and changed the direction of atmospheric chemistry research.
James E. Hansen
Known For
Testimonies on climate change to congressional committees helped raise broad awareness about global warming.
Why It Matters
As the preeminent expert on climate change in the 1980s, Hansen was hugely influential to the general public’s understanding and perception of global warming.
Phil D. Jones
Known For
Developing a long-term timeline of the instrumental temperature record.
Why It Matters
Jones’ data — collected at thousands of meteorological stations, buoys, and ships — showed the big picture of Earth’s temperature and climate systems.
Veerabhadran Ramanathan
Known For
Discovery of the greenhouse effect of halocarbons.
Why It Matters
Before Ramanthan’s findings in the mid-1970s, carbon dioxide was thought to be the only greenhouse gas causing global warming