Researchers

Earth sciences / BROECKER, WALLACE S.

broecker

Position

Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, USA.

Research interests

Role of the oceans in climate change using isotopes

Professor Broecker's research has been instrumental in developing the use of a wide range of geochemical tracers to describe basic biological, chemical and physical processes that govern the behavior of carbon dioxide in the oceans and the interactions of oceanic carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. Dr. Broecker's studies have long been at the core of understanding how the glacial climate system worked. He and his students used a number of new approaches to study the earth's climate, including the use of radiocarbon and other isotopes to date marine sediments. His studies on glacial/interglacial climate change provided the first definitive evidence in support of the Milankovitch Theory, which held that variations in earth's orbit around the sun and the resulting changes in insolation induce the glacial/interglacial climate cycle. Broecker proposed the concept of a global oceanic "conveyor belt" of currents that transports heat around the globe and is tied to abrupt shifts of the earth's climate. He identified the importance of changes in North Atlantic deep-water formation as a leading candidate for the trigger of abrupt climate changes over the last few million years.

Prizes and awards

2006 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences (The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) for his innovative and pioneering research on the operation of the global carbon cycle within the ocean – atmosphere – biosphere system, and its interaction with climate.

2002 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement to honor him for his pioneering discoveries using geological clues to understand the ocean's role in global climate change.

Dr. Broecker has been a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences since 1979. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a Fellow of both the American and European Geophysical Unions. Numerous medals and awards have been bestowed on him. He is the recipient of both the Maurice W. Ewing Medal (1979) and the Roger Revelle Medal (1995) from the American Geophysical Union. The Geological Society of America awarded him the Arthur L. Day Medal in 1984 and the Don J. Easterbrook Distinguished Scientist Award in 2000. In 1985 the A. G. Huntsman Foundation awarded him the A.G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences. In 1986, he was honored with three major awards for his scientific contributions, the Urey Medal from the European Geophysical Union, the Alexander Agassiz Medal by the National Academy of Sciences and the V. M. Goldschmidt Award from the Geochemical Society. The Geological Society of London bestowed the Wollaston Medal on him in 1990. The Blue Planet Prize from the Asahi Glass Foundation of Tokyo was awarded to him in 1996 for achievements in global environmental research. Also in 1996, President William Jefferson Clinton bestowed the USA's highest honor the National Medal of Science for "his pioneering contributions in understanding chemical changes in the ocean and atmospheres," as well as for research on global climate change.

Publications

He has published over 400 scientific articles and he shows no signs of slowing down, as his recent vita lists over a dozen articles in press and another half dozen in preparation. He is the author of several textbooks, beginning in 1971 with his work on "Chemical Equilibria in the Earth". He authored "Chemical Oceanography" in 1974, "Tracers in the Sea" in 1982, and "How to Build a Habitable Planet" in 1985. His two most recent books, "The Glacial World According to Wally" and "Greenhouse Puzzles" were published in 1992 and 1994.