Climate scientists study the climate system, including the statistics of the Earth's temperature (top) and precipitation (bottom).
This list of climate scientists contains famous or otherwise notable persons who have contributed to the study of climate science . The list is compiled manually, so will not be complete, up to date, or comprehensive. The list includes scientists from several specialities or disciplines.
A Waleed Abdalati , American, director of Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Studies , former chief scientist of NASA Nerilie Abram (1977–), Australian paleoclimatologist, at Australian National University Ernest Afiesimama , Nigerian weatherman, former senior associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Myles Allen , head of the Climate Dynamics group at University of Oxford's Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics Department. Lead author, IPCC Third Assessment Report. Review editor, Fourth Assessment Report.Richard Alley (1957–), Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Science, American, Earth's cryosphere and global climate change.Kevin Anderson , Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and is an adviser to the British Government on climate change.James Annan , British climatologist with Blue Skies Research, UKJulie Arblaster , Australian climatologist at The Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research in CSIRO David Archer , American professor of oceanography at University of Chicago Svante Arrhenius (1859–1927), Swedish, greenhouse effect
B Sallie Baliunas , American, astrophysicist, solar variation Elizabeth A. Barnes , American climate scientist working on earth science statisticsEric J. Barron (1944–), American geophysicist, President of Pennsylvania State University Roger G. Barry , (1935–2018), British-American, polar climatologist, first director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center Robin Bell , American, polar geophysicist, President-elect of the American Geophysical Union Martin Beniston (1953–), Swiss climate scientist.Lennart Bengtsson (1935–), Swedish meteorologist and climate scientistAndré Berger , (1942–), Belgian, modeling climatic changes at the geological and at the century time scalesRichard A. Betts , Head of the Climate Impacts strategic area at the Met Office Hadley Centre John W. Birks , American atmospheric chemist and co-developer of the nuclear winter theoryJacob Bjerknes (1897–1975), Norwegian-American meteorologistVilhelm Bjerknes (1862–1951), Norwegian, forecasting, numerical modelsBert Bolin (1925–2007), Swedish meteorologist, first chair of the IPCC Gerard C. Bond (1940–2005), American geologist and paleoclimate researcherJason Box , American professor of glaciology at Ohio State University Raymond S. Bradley , American, historical temperatures, paleoclimatology , and climate variability.Keith Briffa (1952–2017), United Kingdom, dendrochronology , temperature history.Wallace Smith Broecker (1931–2019), American, Pleistocene geochronology , radiocarbon dating , and chemical oceanography Harold E. Brooks (1959–), American meteorologist, severe convective storm and tornado climatology as well as conducive atmospheric environmentsKeith Browning , British meteorologist; mesoscale meteorology, sparkles
C Robert Cahalan , American, climate physics, energy balance, radiative transfer, remote sensing , solar radiationKen Caldeira , American, climate engineering , ocean acidification, atmospheric chemistryGuy Stewart Callendar (February 1898-October 1964), English steam engineer and inventor who proposed what eventually became known as the Callendar effect, the theory that linked rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere to global temperatureMark Cane , American, modeling and prediction of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation Anny Cazenave , French oceanographer specializing in satellite altimetryRobert D. Cess , American atmospheric scientist, emeritus professor at Stony Brook University Jule G. Charney (1917–1981), American meteorologist, pioneer in numerical weather modelingJohn Christy , director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville . Best known (with Roy Spencer) for developing the first version of the satellite temperature record .John A. Church (1951–), Australian oceanographer, chair of the World Climate Research Programme Ralph J. Cicerone (1943–2016), American atmospheric chemist, President of U.S. National Academy of Sciences Danielle Claar , American marine scientist studying effect of climate on coral symbionts and parasitesAllison Crimmins , American, head of the National Climate Assessment Harmon Craig (1926–2003), pioneering American geochemistPaul J. Crutzen (1933–2021), Dutch, stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, and their role in the biogeochemical cycles and climateHeidi Cullen , American meteorologist, chief scientist for Climate Central Balfour Currie OC (1902–1981), Canadian climatologist at University of Saskatchewan Judith Curry American climatologist and former chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology
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E Sylvia Earle (1935–), American marine biologistDon Easterbrook (1935–), American, professor emeritus of Geology at Western Washington University Tamsin Edwards , British climate scientist at King's College London Arnt Eliassen , dynamic meteorologistKerry Emanuel (1955–), American, atmospheric dynamics specializing in hurricanesMatthew England (1966–), Australian, physical oceanographer and climate dynamicistIan G. Enting , Australian mathematical physicist at University of Melbourne
F Joe Farman , British, ozone hole above AntarcticaChristopher Field , American climate scientist with the Carnegie Institution for Science Eunice Newton Foote (1819–1888), American scientist, first to demonstrate that increased atmospheric levels of CO2 would result in heating of the atmospherePiers Forster , British professor of Physical Climate Change at University of Leeds Joseph Fourier (1768–1830), French, greenhouse effect Jennifer Francis , climate change in the ArcticBenjamin Franklin (1706–1790), first mapped the course of the Gulf Stream for use in sending mail from the United States to EuropeChris Freeman , Welsh professor of biogeochemistryEigil Friis-Christensen (1944–2018), Danish geophysicistInez Fung , American, climate modeling, biogeochemical cycles, and climate changeYevgraf Yevgrafovich Fyodorov (1880–1965), Russian climatologist
G Francis Galton (1822–1911), coined the term anticyclone Filippo Giorgi (1959–), Italian atmospheric physicist, International Centre for Theoretical Physics Peter Gleick (1956–), American, hydroclimatologist, hydrologic impacts of climate change, snowfall/snowmelt responses, water adaptation strategies, consequences of sea level rise Kenneth M. Golden , American applied mathematician, percolation theory and diffusion process models of sea ice , professor at University of Utah Natalya Gomez , climate-ice sheet-solid earth modeler, Canadian, professor at McGill University Jonathan M. Gregory , climate modeler, British, professor at University of Reading Jean Grove (1927–2001), British, glaciologist; the Little Ice Age
H Joanna Haigh , (1954–), British, co-director of Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, solar variabilityEdmund Halley , published a map of the trade winds in 1686 after a voyage to the southern hemisphereGordon Hamilton , (1966–2016), Scottish, Associate Research Professor, Climatology Group, of the University of Maine James E. Hansen (1941–), American, planetary atmospheres, remote sensing, numerical models, and global warmingKenneth Hare OC FRSC (1919–2002), Canadian climatologistKlaus Hasselmann , German oceanographer and climate modeller, founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Ed Hawkins MBE , British climate scientist at University of Reading , and designer of data visualization graphicsKatharine Hayhoe , Canadian, Atmospheric science, global climate models.Gabriele C. Hegerl (1963–), Professor of Climate System Science at the University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences.Isaac Held , German-American atmospheric physicist, researcher at GFDL Ann Henderson-Sellers (1952–), Australian, climate change risk evaluationEllie Highwood , Professor of Climate Physics at the University of Reading David A. Hodell , (1958–), British paleoclimatologist, professor at Cambridge University Ove Hoegh-Guldberg , Australian oceanographer at University of Queensland Greg Holland , Australian meteorology researcher at NCAR Brian Hoskins , British climatologist and professor at University of Reading John T. Houghton (1931–2020), British, atmospheric physics, remote sensingMalcolm K. Hughes , British meso-climatologist, professor at University of Arizona Mike Hulme (1960–), British, climate impacts, climate modelling, climate and culture.Thomas Sterry Hunt (1826–1892), American, first scientist to connect carbon dioxide to climate change
I Sherwood Idso (1942–), American, former research physicist with US Department of Agriculture
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K Peter Kalmus , American data scientist at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Associate Project Scientist at University of California, Los Angeles ’ Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & EngineeringDaniel Kammen , American professor of Energy at University of California, Berkeley Thomas R. Karl (1951–), American, climate extremes and variabilityDavid Karoly , Australian professor of meteorology at University of Melbourne Charles David Keeling (1928–2005), American, atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements, Keeling Curve Ralph Keeling (1959–), American professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography David W. Keith , Canadian, Geoengineering and CO2 capture and storage research, University Professor at SEAS and Harvard Kennedy SchoolWilfrid George Kendrew , (1884–1962), Scottish climatologist and meteorologistGretchen Keppel-Aleks , American climate scientistJoseph B. Klemp , American atmospheric scientist at NCAR Thomas Knutson , American climate modeller, researcher at GFDL Reto Knutti , Swiss climate scientist, professor at ETH Zurich Roxy Mathew Koll , Indian climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Kirill Y. Kondratyev (1920–2006), Russian atmospheric physicistBronwen Konecky , paleoclimatologist and climatologistWladimir Köppen , Russian/German meteorologist and climatologist, Köppen climate classification Pancheti Koteswaram , Indian meteorologist and former vice-president of the World Meteorological Organization Shen Kuo (1031–1095), Chinese scientist who inferred that climates naturally shifted over an enormous span of timeM. Levent Kurnaz , Turkish climate scientist at Boğaziçi University , director of the Center for Climate Change and Policy Studies (iklimBU) John E. Kutzbach (1937–2021), American climatologist at University of Wisconsin–Madison
L Dmitry Lachinov (1842–1902), Russian climatologist and engineerHubert Lamb (1913–1997), British climatologist, founder of the Climatic Research Unit at University of East Anglia Kurt Lambeck , Australian, cryosphere-hydrosphere-lithosphere interactions, and sea level rise and its impact on human populationsHelmut Landsberg (1906–1985), German-American, fostered the use of statistical analysis in climatology, which led to its evolution into a physical scienceChristopher Landsea (1965–), American meteorologist, Science and Operations Officer at the National Hurricane Center Mojib Latif (1954–), German, meteorology and oceanography, climate modellingCorinne Le Quéré , France/Canadian/UK, Royal Society research professor, University of East AngliaAnders Levermann , German professor of climate dynamics at University of Potsdam Richard Lindzen (1940–), American, dynamic meteorology, especially planetary waves Diana Liverman (1954–), American/British, climate impacts, vulnerability and policyMichael Lockwood , British professor of physics at Reading University Michael S. Longuet-Higgins FRS (Oceanographer) (1925–2016), British, mathematician and oceanographer DAMTP at Cambridge University and Scripps Institution UCSD , ocean waves and fluid dynamicsEdward Norton Lorenz (1917–2008), American, discovery of the strange attractor notion and coined the term butterfly effect Claude Lorius , French glaciologist, director emeritus of CNRS James Lovelock (1919–2022), British, Gaia hypothesis and biotic feedbacks.Amanda Lynch , Australian, Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University and the founding director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society.[ 1] Peter Lynch , Irish meteorologist and mathematician
M Michael MacCracken (1942–), American, chief scientist at the Climate Institute in Washington, DCGordon J. F. MacDonald (1929–2002), American physicist who developed one of the first computational models of climate change, and was an early advocate for governmental actionJerry D. Mahlman (1940–2012), American meteorologist and climatologist and a pioneer in the use of computational models of the atmosphere to examine the interactions between atmospheric chemistry and physicsLászló Makra (1952–), Hungarian climatologist. Full professor. His main research area is pollen climatology and, within this, analysis of climatological relationships of ragweed pollen, as well as relationship between ragweed pollen concentration and respiratory diseases.Syukuro Manabe (1931–), American, professor Princeton University , pioneered the use of computers to simulate global climate change and natural climate variationsGordon Manley (1902–1980), English, Central England temperature (CET) seriesMichael E. Mann (1965–), American, professor of meteorology and director, Earth System Science Center, Penn State U. David Marshall , British physical oceanographer at the University of Oxford .Valerie Masson-Delmotte , French climate scientist with a focus on paleoclimatology at the Climate and Environment Sciences Laboratory (LSCE)Gordon McBean , Canadian, boundary layer research, hydrometeorology and environmental impact research, and weather forecastingJames J. McCarthy , American professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard University Rachel E, McCarthy (1984-) British Climatologist, joint theorist whose work led to the solving of the 'missing heat' phenomenon. Expert in Disaster Risk and Reduction. European Commission Helen McGregor , Australian geologist and climate change researcher, a Fellow with the Research School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University Christopher McKay , American planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center Marcia McNutt , American geophysicist, president of the National Academy of Sciences Linda Mearns , American climate scientist, senior scientist at NCAR Carl Mears , American, senior scientist at Remote Sensing Systems Gerald A. Meehl (1951–), American climatologist at NCAR Katrin Meissner , German and Australian physical oceanographer and climate scientist, director of the Climate Change Research Centre at University of New South Wales Sebastian H. Mernild (1972–), Danish glaciologist and hydrologist, former director of the Nansen Environmental Research Center (NERSC), Bergen , Norway and research director of the Climate Change and Glaciology Laboratory (at CECs ), Valdivia , Chile . Former Vice President of the International Commission on Snow and Ice Hydrology (under IAHS ).Milutin Milanković (1879–1958), Serbian, Milankovitch cycles John F. B. Mitchell , British, climate modelling and detection and attribution of climate changeFritz Möller (1906–1983), German, early modeling of CO2 greenhouse effectMario J. Molina (1943–2020), Mexican, atmospheric chemistry and ozone depletion Nils-Axel Mörner (1938–2020), Swedish oceanographer and climate scientistRichard H. Moss , chairman, Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment Antonio Divino Moura , Brazilian meteorologist and formerly a vice-president of the World Meteorological OrganizationRichard A. Muller (1944–), American physicist, head of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project, formerly an outspoken critic of current climate change scienceR. E. Munn FRSC (1919–2013), Canadian climatologistHelene Muri (1979–), Norwegian climate scientist
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P Tim Palmer CBE FRS (1952–), British mathematical physicist, climate modeler at Oxford University Garth Paltridge (1940–), Australian atmospheric physicistDavid E. Parker , British, surface temperature trendFyodor Panayev (1856–1933), Russian climatologistGraeme Pearman OA FAAS (1941–), Australian climatologistWilliam Richard Peltier (1943–), Canadian, global geodynamic modeling and ice sheet reconstructions; atmospheric and oceanic waves and turbulenceJean Robert Petit , French palaeoclimatologist, emeritus director of research at Centre national de la recherche scientifique David Phillips OC (1944–), Canadian climatologist and meteorologistRoger A. Pielke, Sr. (1946–), American, climate change , environmental vulnerability, numerical modeling , and atmospheric dynamics Raymond Pierrehumbert , idealized climate modeling, Faint young sun paradox Andrew Pitman (1964–), British, terrestrial processes in global and regional climate modelling, model evaluation and earth systems approaches to understanding climate changeGilbert Plass (1920–2004), Canadian, CO2 greenhouse effect and AGWHenry Pollack , American emeritus professor of geophysics at University of Michigan Vicky Pope , British, Head of the Climate Prediction Programme at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research
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R Stefan Rahmstorf (1960–), German, the role of ocean currents in climate changeVeerabhadran Ramanathan , Indian, general circulation models, atmospheric chemistry, and radiative transferMichael Raupach (1950–2015), Australian climatologist, formerly of CSIRO and was director of the Climate Change program at Australian National University Maureen Raymo , American paleoclimatologistDavid Reay , Professor of Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh Martine Rebetez (1961–), Swiss climatologist, professor at the University of Neuchâtel and senior scientist at Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL.Roger Revelle (1909–1991), American, global warming and chemical oceanography Lewis Fry Richardson (1881–1953), English mathematician and meteorologistEric Rignot , American professor of Earth System Science at University of California, Irvine Alan Robock (1941–), American climatologist, professor at Rutgers University Joeri Rogelj (1980–), Belgian climate scientist and IPCC authorJoseph J. Romm (1960–), American author, blogger, physicistCarl-Gustaf Rossby (1898–1957), Swedish-American climatologistFrank Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012), American atmospheric chemist at University of California, Irvine Cynthia E. Rosenzweig (c. 1958–), American climatologist, pioneered the study of climate change and agricultureWilliam Ruddiman , American palaeoclimatologist, Early Anthropogenic HypothesisSteve Running , American global ecologist at University of Montana
S Murry Salby , American atmospheric and climate scientistJim Salinger , New Zealand climatologistDork Sahagian , Armenian-American, Lehigh University Marie Sanderson (1921–2010), Canadian geographer and climatologistBen Santer (1955–), climatologist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Nicola Scafetta (1975–), Italian astronomer and climate scientistHans Joachim Schellnhuber (1950–), German climatologist, was an author for the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeDavid Schindler , Canadian-American environmental chemist, professor of ecology at University of Alberta Michael Schlesinger , American professor of Atmospheric Sciences at UIUC William H. Schlesinger (1950–), American biogeochemist, former Dean of the Nicholas School at Duke University Gavin A. Schmidt , American climatologist and climate modeler at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)Stephen H. Schneider (1945–2010), American, Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change at Stanford University Daniel P. Schrag (1966–), American, Professor of Geology at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Center for the EnvironmentStephen E. Schwartz (1941–), American, chemistry of air pollutants, radiative forcing of aerosols on climateTom Segalstad (1949–), Norwegian geochemistWolfgang Seiler (1940–), German climatologist at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology John H. Seinfeld , American atmospheric chemist at California Institute of Technology Mark Serreze (1960–), American geographer/climatologist, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center Nicholas Shackleton (1937–2006), British palaeoclimatologist at Cambridge University Nir Shaviv (1972–), Israeli‐American astrophysicist and climate scientistJ. Marshall Shepherd , American professor of meteorology at University of Georgia Drew Shindell , American atmospheric chemist, professor of Climate Sciences at Duke University Keith Shine , Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science at the University of Reading Jagdish Shukla (1944–), Indian-American climatologist at George Mason University Joanne Simpson (1923–2010), American meteorologistFred Singer (1924–2020), atmospheric physicist, president of the Science & Environmental Policy Project , a climate change denialist groupJulia Slingo (1950–), chief scientist at the Met Office since 2009Joseph Smagorinsky (1924–2005), American meteorologist; first head of NOAA GFDL Robert H. Socolow , Princeton University professor who collaborated on the Climate stabilization wedge Susan Solomon (1956–), American, research in chlorofluorocarbons and ozone depletionRichard C. J. Somerville (1941–), American climatologist Scripps Institution of Oceanography Kozma Spassky-Avtonomov (1807–1890), Russian climatologistRoy Spencer , climatologist, research scientist at the University of AlabamaKonrad Steffen (1952–2020), Swiss-American glaciologist at University of Colorado Boulder Will Steffen (1947–2023), Australian climatologist, science advisor to Australian governmentDavid Stephenson (1963–), British, climate scientist and statistician at the University of Exeter .Thomas Stocker , Swiss, climate dynamics and paleoclimate modeling and reconstructionHans von Storch (1949–), German, meteorologist of Geesthacht , GermanyPeter A. Stott , British, climate scientist.Hans E. Suess (1909–1993), Austrian, radiocarbon datingHenrik Svensmark , Professor in the Division of Solar System Physics at the Danish National Space Institute
T Kevin Russel Tate (1943–2018), New Zealand soil chemist, studied carbon cycling and sequestration in soilsSimon Tett , British, detection and attribution of climate change, model initialization, and validationPeter Thejll (1956–), Danish, Northern Hemisphere land air temperature, solar variation and greenhouse effectPeter Thorne , British climatologist with the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre, Bergen, NorwayC. W. Thornthwaite (1899–1963), American geographer and climatologist responsible for the Thornthwaite climate classification Liz Thomas , British palaeoclimatologist, ice cores , British Antarctic Survey Lonnie Thompson (1948–), American, Professor of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University paleoclimatology, ice cores Axel Timmermann , German climate physicist and oceanographer, director of IBS Center for Climate PhysicsMicha Tomkiewicz (1939–), American climate change professor at Brooklyn College Owen Toon , American professor of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences at University of Colorado Boulder Kevin E. Trenberth , decadal variability, El Niño-Southern OscillationSusan Trumbore , earth systems scientist focusing on the carbon cycle and its effects on climate, director at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and a professor of Earth System Science at University of California, Irvine John Tyndall (1820–1893), British, measured radiative effect of greenhouse gases , postulated greenhouse effect hypothesis of climate change
V Jean-Pascal van Ypersele (1957–), Belgian climatologist, Vice-chair of IPCC (2008–2015)David Vaughan , ice sheets , British Antarctic Survey Jan Veizer (1941–), Slovakian, Distinguished University Professor emeritus of Earth Sciences at the University of Ottawa Pier Vellinga (1950–), Dutch climatologist, professor at Wageningen University Ricardo Villalba , Argentine paleoclimatologistFrançoise Vimeux , French climatologist, research director at the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), works at the Laboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement (LSCE) and the Laboratoire HydroSciences Montpellier (HSM)
W Peter Wadhams ScD (1948–), professor of Ocean Physics , and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics , University of Cambridge . He is best known for his work on sea ice .Warren M. Washington (1936–2024), American, climate modellingJohn Michael Wallace , North Atlantic oscillation , Arctic oscillation , El Niño-Southern Oscillation Andrew Watson (1952–), British, marine and atmospheric sciencesSir Robert Watson , British scientist and chief scientist for the World Bank Betsy Weatherhead , American, former head of the National Climate Assessment Andrew J. Weaver , Canadian, climate modeling and analysis.Harry Wexler (1911–1962), American meteorologistPenny Whetton , Australian, regional climate change projections for Australia. A lead author of the IPCC Third and fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change.Tom Wigley , Australian climatologist at University of Adelaide Josh Willis , American oceanographer at NASA's JPL David Wratt , New Zealander, chief scientist at NIWA Donald Wuebbles , American atmospheric scientist and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Carl Wunsch (1941–), physical oceanography and ocean acoustic tomography
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References ^ "IBES 10th Anniversary" . Institute at Brown for Environment and Society . Brown University. Retrieved December 29, 2024 .