Gavin Schmidt
Encyclopedia
Gavin A. Schmidt is a climatologist and climate modeler at the NASA
Goddard Institute for Space Studies
(GISS) in New York. He works on the variability of the ocean circulation and climate
, using general circulation models
(GCMs). He has also worked on ways to reconcile paleo-data
with models. He helped develop the GISS ocean
and coupled GCM
s to improve the representation of the present day climate, while investigating their response to climate forcing. The latest GISS GCM is called ModelE.
He is the co-author, with Joshua Wolfe, of Climate Change: Picturing the Science (2009), which has a foreword by Jeffrey D. Sachs. The book combines images of the effects of climate change with scientific explanations.
In October 2011, he was awarded the American Geophysical Union Climate Communications Prize for his work on communicating climate-change issues to the public. He is an ongoing contributor to the climate change blog, Real Climate.
, earned a BA (Hons) in mathematics at Jesus College, Oxford
, and a PhD in applied mathematics at University College London
.
, Science
, and Nature
, and was named In November 2004 as one of Scientific American
s "Top 50 Research Leaders" of the year.
His main research interest is climate variability, both its internal and the response to climate forcing, investigated via ocean-atmosphere general circulation models. He also uses these to study palaeoclimate
by working on methods to compare palaeo-data with model output. Schmidt helps to develop the GISS ocean and coupled GCMs (ModelE). This model has been "isotopically enabled" to carry oxygen-18
tracers, allowing the model to simulate the pattern of δ18O observed in ice core
s, cave records and ocean sediments.
, a blog that provides commentary on climate science for the public and journalists. Although some commentators, such as Fred Pearce
, claim that Schmidt "runs" the RealClimate site, the site participants themselves state that all posts on the site are internally peer reviewed. Many are written by other members, with frequent guest posts from non-member leading scientists. Via the blog, Schmidt defended the scientists named in the 2009-2010 Climatic Research Unit emails controversy, including Michael E. Mann and Phil Jones, saying in a post on the blog, "Gravity isn't a useful theory because Newton was a nice man."
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Goddard Institute for Space Studies
The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies , at Columbia University in New York City, is a component laboratory of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Earth-Sun Exploration Division and a unit of The Earth Institute at Columbia University...
(GISS) in New York. He works on the variability of the ocean circulation and climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
, using general circulation models
Climate model
Climate models use quantitative methods to simulate the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice. They are used for a variety of purposes from study of the dynamics of the climate system to projections of future climate...
(GCMs). He has also worked on ways to reconcile paleo-data
Paleoclimatology
Paleoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses a variety of proxy methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously preserved within rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils; it then...
with models. He helped develop the GISS ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
and coupled GCM
Global climate model
A General Circulation Model is a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean and based on the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms for various energy sources . These equations are the basis for complex computer programs commonly...
s to improve the representation of the present day climate, while investigating their response to climate forcing. The latest GISS GCM is called ModelE.
He is the co-author, with Joshua Wolfe, of Climate Change: Picturing the Science (2009), which has a foreword by Jeffrey D. Sachs. The book combines images of the effects of climate change with scientific explanations.
In October 2011, he was awarded the American Geophysical Union Climate Communications Prize for his work on communicating climate-change issues to the public. He is an ongoing contributor to the climate change blog, Real Climate.
Education
He was educated at The Corsham SchoolThe Corsham School
The Corsham School is an Arts College and large secondary school & academy in Corsham, Wiltshire, England. It has 1387 students enrolled, with over 200 in the sixth form facility.-Background:...
, earned a BA (Hons) in mathematics at Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
, and a PhD in applied mathematics at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Research
He has published over 70 refereed articles in journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, usually referred to as PNAS, is the official journal of the United States National Academy of Sciences...
, Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, and Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, and was named In November 2004 as one of Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
s "Top 50 Research Leaders" of the year.
His main research interest is climate variability, both its internal and the response to climate forcing, investigated via ocean-atmosphere general circulation models. He also uses these to study palaeoclimate
Temperature record of the past 1000 years
The temperature record of the 2nd millennium describes the reconstruction of temperatures since 1000 CE on the Northern Hemisphere, later extended back to 1 CE and also to cover the southern hemisphere. A reconstruction is needed because a reliable surface temperature record exists only since about...
by working on methods to compare palaeo-data with model output. Schmidt helps to develop the GISS ocean and coupled GCMs (ModelE). This model has been "isotopically enabled" to carry oxygen-18
Oxygen-18
Oxygen-18 is a natural, stable isotope of oxygen and one of the environmental isotopes.18O is an important precursor for the production of fluorodeoxyglucose used in positron emission tomography...
tracers, allowing the model to simulate the pattern of δ18O observed in ice core
Ice core
An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet, most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica, Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere. As the ice forms from the incremental build up of annual layers of snow, lower layers are older than upper, and an ice...
s, cave records and ocean sediments.
Media and outreach
Schmidt is a founding member and contributor to RealClimateRealClimate
RealClimate is a commentary site on climatology. The site's contributors are a group of climate scientists whose goal is to provide a quick response to developing stories and providing the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The discussion is intended to be restricted to scientific...
, a blog that provides commentary on climate science for the public and journalists. Although some commentators, such as Fred Pearce
Fred Pearce
Fred Pearce is an English author and journalist based in London. He has been described as one of Britain's finest science writers and has reported on environment, popular science and development issues from 64 countries over the past 20 years. He specializes in global environmental issues,...
, claim that Schmidt "runs" the RealClimate site, the site participants themselves state that all posts on the site are internally peer reviewed. Many are written by other members, with frequent guest posts from non-member leading scientists. Via the blog, Schmidt defended the scientists named in the 2009-2010 Climatic Research Unit emails controversy, including Michael E. Mann and Phil Jones, saying in a post on the blog, "Gravity isn't a useful theory because Newton was a nice man."
External links
- Gavin Schmidt's homepage, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, accessed 2 August 2010.
- RealClimate website.
- CIRS biographical note and publication list.