Andy Watson (scientist)

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Andrew Watson
Born1952
Alma mater Imperial College London
University of Reading
Scientific career
Institutions University of Exeter
University of East Anglia
Thesis Consequences for the Biosphere of Forest and Grassland Fires  (1978)
Doctoral advisor James Lovelock
Doctoral students Tim Lenton [1]

Andrew James Watson FRS (born 1952) is a British marine and atmospheric scientist and an expert in processes affecting atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations. He was formerly a Professor of biogeochemistry in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, in 2013 he moved to a position as Professor at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Exeter.

Contents

Earth sciences

Watson graduated with a first class BSc in physics from Imperial College London in 1975. He then became a PhD student of James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia hypothesis of Earth regulation, at the University of Reading. He and Lovelock introduced the Daisyworld model in 1983, showing how ecological competition between hypothetical "daisies" could affect planetary albedo and regulate environmental temperature. [2] Watson and his students have subsequently developed a priori models for the regulation of atmospheric composition through geological time. He has applied the weak Anthropic Principle to evolution on Earth, [3] suggesting that long-term regulation of the Earth’s temperature and environment may be a necessary pre-requisite to allow sufficient time for the evolution of complex life and intelligence, rather than an intrinsic property of the biosphere as Lovelock proposed.

Tracing ocean waters

While at the Marine Biological Association and Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the 1980s, he developed techniques for tracking ocean water bodies using tracers such as sulphur hexafluoride and perfluorodecalin. [4] He and colleagues applied these to measure the slow mixing vertical rates in the ocean, [5] and to trace the movement of patches of surface water. [6] He also applied the technology to enable iron fertilization experiments. [7] More than a dozen such experiments have now been carried out [8] and have proved that iron is an essential limiting nutrient in important areas of the world ocean.

Watson published the popular book Revolutions that Made the Earth [9] with colleague Tim Lenton in 2011. In 2015, Watson appeared on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe Series 3, interviewed by the character, Philomena Cunk. [10]

Related Research Articles

Gaia philosophy is a broadly inclusive term for related concepts that living organisms on a planet will affect the nature of their environment in order to make the environment more suitable for life. This set of hypotheses holds that all organisms on a life-giving planet regulate the biosphere in such a way as to promote its habitability. Gaia concept draws a connection between the survivability of a species and its usefulness to the survival of other species.

James Lovelock English independent scientist (1919–2022)

James Ephraim Lovelock was an English independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system.

Chlorofluorocarbon Class of organic compounds commonly used as refrigerants

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and propane. They are also commonly known by the DuPont brand name Freon.

<i>SimEarth</i> 1990 video game

SimEarth is a life simulation video game, the second designed by Will Wright, in which the player controls the development of a planet. English scientist James Lovelock served as an advisor and his Gaia hypothesis of planet evolution was incorporated into the game. SimEarth was published in 1990 by Maxis. Versions were made for the Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, IBM PC, SNES, Sega Mega-CD and TurboGrafx-16. It was also subsequently re-released on the Wii Virtual Console. In 1996, several of Maxis' simulation games were re-released under the Maxis Collector Series with greater compatibility with Windows 95 and differing box art, including the addition of Classics beneath the title. SimEarth was re-released in 1997 under the Classics label.

Daisyworld Computer simulation

Daisyworld, a computer simulation, is a hypothetical world orbiting a star whose radiant energy is slowly increasing or decreasing. It is meant to mimic important elements of the Earth-Sun system, and was introduced by James Lovelock and Andrew Watson in a paper published in 1983 to illustrate the plausibility of the Gaia hypothesis. In the original 1983 version, Daisyworld is seeded with two varieties of daisy as its only life forms: black daisies and white daisies. White petaled daisies reflect light, while black petaled daisies absorb light. The simulation tracks the two daisy populations and the surface temperature of Daisyworld as the sun's rays grow more powerful. The surface temperature of Daisyworld remains almost constant over a broad range of solar output.

Gaia hypothesis Paradigm that living organisms interact with their surroundings in a self-regulating system

The Gaia hypothesis, also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet.

Sulfur hexafluoride Greenhouse gas

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) or sulphur hexafluoride (British spelling) is an extremely potent and persistent greenhouse gas that is primarily utilized as an electrical insulator and arc suppressant. It is inorganic, colorless, odorless, non-flammable, and non-toxic. SF
6 has an octahedral geometry, consisting of six fluorine atoms attached to a central sulfur atom. It is a hypervalent molecule.

Cloud condensation nuclei Small particles on which water vapor condenses

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs), also known as cloud seeds, are small particles typically 0.2 µm, or 1/100 the size of a cloud droplet on which water vapor condenses. Water requires a non-gaseous surface to make the transition from a vapor to a liquid; this process is called condensation. In the atmosphere of Earth, this surface presents itself as tiny solid or liquid particles called CCNs. When no CCNs are present, water vapor can be supercooled at about −13 °C (9 °F) for 5–6 hours before droplets spontaneously form. In above-freezing temperatures, the air would have to be supersaturated to around 400% before the droplets could form.

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) or methylthiomethane is an organosulfur compound with the formula (CH3)2S. Dimethyl sulfide is a flammable liquid that boils at 37 °C (99 °F) and has a characteristic disagreeable odor. It is a component of the smell produced from cooking of certain vegetables, notably maize, cabbage, beetroot, and seafoods. It is also an indication of bacterial contamination in malt production and brewing. It is a breakdown product of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), and is also produced by the bacterial metabolism of methanethiol.

Tyler Volk

Tyler Volk is a professor in the departments of environmental studies and biology at New York University.

The Alexander Agassiz Medal is awarded every three years by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences for an original contribution in the science of oceanography. It was established in 1911 by Sir John Murray in honor of his friend, the scientist Alexander Agassiz.

Iron fertilization

Iron fertilization is the intentional introduction of iron to iron-poor areas of the ocean surface to stimulate phytoplankton production. This is intended to enhance biological productivity and/or accelerate carbon dioxide sequestration from the atmosphere. Iron is a trace element necessary for photosynthesis in plants. It is highly insoluble in sea water and in a variety of locations is the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growth. Large algal blooms can be created by supplying iron to iron-deficient ocean waters. These blooms can nourish other organisms.

Ocean fertilization Type of climate engineering

Ocean fertilization or ocean nourishment is a type of climate engineering based on the purposeful introduction of plant nutrients to the upper ocean to increase marine food production and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A number of techniques, including fertilization by the micronutrient iron or with nitrogen and phosphorus, have been proposed. But research in the early 2020s suggested that it could only permanently sequester a small amount of carbon. Therefore, there is no major future in its role to sequester carbon.

Marine ecosystem Ecosystem in saltwater environment

Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the surface of the Earth and account for more than 97% of Earth's water supply and 90% of habitable space on Earth. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, and tuna live. The benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides. Other near-shore (neritic) zones can include mudflats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rocky intertidal systems, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons. In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria form the base of the food web.

CLAW hypothesis A hypothesised negative feedback loop connecting the marine biota and the climate

The CLAW hypothesis proposes a negative feedback loop that operates between ocean ecosystems and the Earth's climate. The hypothesis specifically proposes that particular phytoplankton that produce dimethyl sulfide are responsive to variations in climate forcing, and that these responses act to stabilise the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere. The CLAW hypothesis was originally proposed by Robert Jay Charlson, James Lovelock, Meinrat Andreae and Stephen G. Warren, and takes its acronym from the first letter of their surnames.

Earth system science Scientific study of the Earths spheres and their natural integrated systems

Earth system science (ESS) is the application of systems science to the Earth. In particular, it considers interactions and 'feedbacks', through material and energy fluxes, between the Earth's sub-systems' cycles, processes and "spheres"—atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, geosphere, pedosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and even the magnetosphere—as well as the impact of human societies on these components. At its broadest scale, Earth system science brings together researchers across both the natural and social sciences, from fields including ecology, economics, geography, geology, glaciology, meteorology, oceanography, climatology, paleontology, sociology, and space science. Like the broader subject of systems science, Earth system science assumes a holistic view of the dynamic interaction between the Earth's spheres and their many constituent subsystems fluxes and processes, the resulting spatial organization and time evolution of these systems, and their variability, stability and instability. Subsets of Earth System science include systems geology and systems ecology, and many aspects of Earth System science are fundamental to the subjects of physical geography and climate science.

Planetary boundaries

Planetary boundaries is a concept highlighting human-caused perturbations of Earth systems making them relevant in a way not accommodated by the environmental boundaries separating the three ages within the Holocene epoch. Crossing a planetary boundary comes at the risk of abrupt environmental change. The framework is based on scientific evidence that human actions, especially those of industrialized societies since the Industrial Revolution, have become the main driver of global environmental change. According to the framework, "transgressing one or more planetary boundaries may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems."

Timothy Michael LentonFGS FLS FRSB is Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter. In April 2013 he was awarded the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. He graduated with a first-class degree in natural sciences from Robinson College, Cambridge in 1994 and completed his PhD under Andrew Watson at the University of East Anglia in 1998.

John Graham Shepherd CBE FRS is a British Earth system scientist, Emeritus Professor at University of Southampton, and a former director of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. He has worked on a wide range of environment-related topics, including the transport of chemical tracers in the atmospheric boundary layer and in the deep ocean, the management of marine fish stocks, and the dynamics of the Earth system. More recently he led a comprehensive review of geoengineering for the Royal Society.

Ocean storage of carbon dioxide Possible method of carbon sequestration

Ocean storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a method of carbon sequestration. The concept of storing carbon dioxide in the ocean was first proposed by Italian physicist Cesare Marchetti in his 1976 paper "On Geoengineering and the carbon dioxide problem." Since then, the concept of sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide in the world's oceans has been investigated by scientists, engineers, and environmental activists. 39,000 GtC (gigatonnes of carbon) currently reside in the oceans while only 750 GtC are in the atmosphere.

References

  1. ↑ "Professor Tim Lenton Chair in Climate Change/Earth Systems Science". University of Exeter. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Watson, A. J. and J. E. Lovelock (1983). Biological homeostasis of the global environment: the parable of Daisyworld. Tellus 35B, 284-289
  3. ↑ Watson, A. J., (2004). Gaia and observer self-selection. In Scientists debate Gaia: the next century, eds Schneider, S. H., Miller, J. R., Crist, E., and Boston, P. J. pp201-208. MIT press, Cambridge, Mass, USA.
  4. ↑ Watson, A. J., Liddicoat, M. I. and J. R. Ledwell (1987). "Perfluorodecalin and sulphur hexafluoride as purposeful marine tracers: some deployment and analysis techniques." Deep-Sea Research, 34, 19-31.
  5. ↑ Ledwell, J. R., Watson, A. J., and Law, C. S. (1993). Evidence of slow mixing across the pycnocline from an open ocean tracer release experiment. Nature. 364, 701-703
  6. ↑ Watson, A. J., Upstill-Goddard R. C. and P. S. Liss (1991). Air- sea gas exchange in rough and stormy seas measured by a dual- tracer technique. Nature 349, 145-147.
  7. ↑ Watson, A. J., P. S. Liss, and R. A. Duce (1992). Design of a small-scale iron fertilisation experiment. Limnology and Oceanography 36, 1960-1965
  8. ↑ . Boyd, P. W., et al., (2007). Mesoscale iron-enrichment experiments 1993-2005: synthesis and future directions. Science 315, 612-61
  9. ↑ Lenton, Tim; Watson, Andrew (20 January 2011). Revolutions that Made the Earth. ISBN   978-0199587049.
  10. ↑ "Watson interviewd by Cunk". BBC2. 19 February 2015 – via YouTube.
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