Ulrike Lohmann | |
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| Born | 1966 [1] |
| Alma mater | Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | ETH Zurich |
| Thesis | Sensitivität des Modellklimas eines globalen Zirkulationsmodells der Atmosphäre gegenüber Änderungen der Wolkenmikrophysik (1996) |
Ulrike Lohmann is a climate researcher and professor for atmospheric physics at the ETH Zurich. She is known for her research on aerosol particles in clouds.
Lohmann comes from Kiel as the daughter of a teacher and a politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany. [2] She did a volunteer year in an SOS Children's Village in Nigeria, and then studied ethnology and geography. [2] Inspired by environmental reports on climate change, she studied meteorology at the University of Mainz from 1988 to 1993. [2] [3] She received her doctorate in 1996 at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. [4] She initially worked as assistant professor and associate professor for atmospheric sciences at Dalhousie University. [3] She has been a full professor of atmospheric physics at the Institute for Atmosphere and Climate at ETH Zurich since 2004. [3]
Lohmann's research centers on the interactions between global warming, aerosols, and cloud formation. Her early research modeled the influence of cirrus clouds on climate, [5] which she continued in her use of the ECHAM model. [6] [7] Her research also considers the global indirect aerosol effects and the connection to climate change. [8] She also deals with the possibility of geoengineering by thinning cirrus clouds. [9] In the 2017 Science article, she notes "for the time being, cirrus cloud thinning should be viewed as a thought experiment that is helping to understand cirrus cloud–formation mechanisms". [9]
She is one of the lead authors on the chapters on Clouds and Aerosols in the fourth and fifth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), [10] and she shared in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to the IPCC reports. [11]
Lohmann supports the young people striking to draw attention to climate change, [2] and in 2019 she was one of the scientists signing on to a statement on the school protests for climate protection to draw attention to the climate crisis. [12]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)She lives on Lake Zurich, and her passions are endurance sports and rowing. [2]
Cirrus is a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds typically appear delicate and wispy with white strands. Cirrus are usually formed when warm, dry air rises, causing water vapor deposition onto rocky or metallic dust particles at high altitudes. Globally, they form anywhere between 4,000 and 20,000 meters above sea level, with the higher elevations usually in the tropics and the lower elevations in more polar regions.
Cloud albedo is a measure of the albedo or reflectivity of a cloud. Clouds regulate the amount of solar radiation absorbed by a planet and its solar surface irradiance. Generally, increased cloud cover correlates to a higher albedo and a lower absorption of solar energy. Cloud albedo strongly influences the Earth's energy budget, accounting for approximately half of Earth's albedo. Cloud albedo depends on the total mass of water, the size and shape of the droplets or particles and their distribution in space. Thick clouds reflect a large amount of incoming solar radiation, translating to a high albedo. Thin clouds tend to transmit more solar radiation and, therefore, have a low albedo. Changes in cloud albedo caused by variations in cloud properties have a significant effect on global climate.
The sulfate or sulphate ion is a polyatomic anion with the empirical formula SO2−4. Salts, acid derivatives, and peroxides of sulfate are widely used in industry. Sulfates occur widely in everyday life. Sulfates are salts of sulfuric acid and many are prepared from that acid.
Global dimming was the name given to a decline in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface, a measure also known as global direct solar irradiance. It was observed soon after the first systematic measurements of solar irradiance began in the 1950s, and continued until 1980s, with an observed reduction of 4–5% per decade, even though solar activity did not vary more than the usual at the time. Instead, global dimming had been attributed to an increase in atmospheric particulate matter, predominantly sulfate aerosols, as the result of rapidly growing air pollution due to post-war industrialization. After 1980s, global dimming started to reverse, alongside reductions in particulate emissions, in what has been described as global brightening, although this reversal is only considered "partial" for now. This reversal has also been globally uneven, as some of the brightening over the developed countries in the 1980s and 1990s had been counteracted by the increased dimming from the industrialization of the developing countries and the expansion of the global shipping industry, although they have also been making rapid progress in cleaning up air pollution in the recent years.
Nephology is the study of clouds and cloud formation. British meteorologist Luke Howard was a major researcher within this field, establishing a cloud classification system. While this branch of meteorology still exists today, the term nephology, or nephologist is rarely used. The term came into use at the end of the nineteenth century, and fell out of common use by the middle of the twentieth. Recently, interest in nephology has surged as many meteorologists have begun to focus on the relationship between clouds and global warming which is a major source of uncertainty regarding "...estimates and interpretations of the Earth’s changing energy budget."
This is a list of the most influential long-lived, well-mixed greenhouse gases, along with their tropospheric concentrations and direct radiative forcings, as identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Abundances of these trace gases are regularly measured by atmospheric scientists from samples collected throughout the world. Since the 1980s, their forcing contributions are also estimated with high accuracy using IPCC-recommended expressions derived from radiative transfer models.
Stratospheric aerosol injection is a proposed method of solar geoengineering to reduce global warming. This would introduce aerosols into the stratosphere to create a cooling effect via global dimming and increased albedo, which occurs naturally from volcanic winter. It appears that stratospheric aerosol injection, at a moderate intensity, could counter most changes to temperature and precipitation, take effect rapidly, have low direct implementation costs, and be reversible in its direct climatic effects. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that it "is the most-researched [solar geoengineering] method, with high agreement that it could limit warming to below 1.5 °C (2.7 °F)." However, like other solar geoengineering approaches, stratospheric aerosol injection would do so imperfectly and other effects are possible, particularly if used in a suboptimal manner.
The Albrecht effect describes how a larger density of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), possibly from anthropogenic pollution, may increase cloud lifetime and hence increase the amount of solar radiation reflected from clouds. Because it does not directly interact with incoming or outgoing radiation, it has an indirect effect on climate.
The contributions of women in climate change have received increasing attention in the early 21st century. Feedback from women and the issues faced by women have been described as "imperative" by the United Nations and "critical" by the Population Reference Bureau. A report by the World Health Organization concluded that incorporating gender-based analysis would "provide more effective climate change mitigation and adaptation."
Robert Jay Charlson was an American atmospheric scientist, climate scientist, pioneer in the fields of climate forcing and climate change, and coauthor of the CLAW hypothesis.Charlson is known for his research in atmospheric chemistry, aerosol physics, aerosol/cloud/climate interaction, aerosol and cloud instrumentation.
Cirrus cloud thinning (CCT) is a proposed form of climate engineering. Cirrus clouds are high cold ice that, like other clouds, both reflect sunlight and absorb warming infrared radiation. However, they differ from other types of clouds in that, on average, infrared absorption outweighs sunlight reflection, resulting in a net warming effect on the climate. Therefore, thinning or removing these clouds would reduce their heat trapping capacity, resulting in a cooling effect on Earth's climate. This could be a potential tool to reduce anthropogenic global warming. Cirrus cloud thinning is an alternative category of climate engineering, in addition to solar radiation management and greenhouse gas removal.
The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) was a five-year scientific research program that investigated aspects of phytoplankton dynamics in ocean ecosystems, and how such dynamics influence atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and climate. The study focused on the sub-arctic region of the North Atlantic Ocean, which is the site of one of Earth's largest recurring phytoplankton blooms. The long history of research in this location, as well as relative ease of accessibility, made the North Atlantic an ideal location to test prevailing scientific hypotheses in an effort to better understand the role of phytoplankton aerosol emissions on Earth's energy budget.
Beate Gertrud Liepert is a research scientist at Columbia University, as well as in North West Research Associates, Redmond and a lecturer at Seattle University. Her research focuses on climate variability: inter-annual changes, centennial time scales, the water and energy cycles.
Julia Yvonne Schmale is a German environmental scientist. She is a specialist in the micro-physical makeup of the atmosphere, in particular aerosols and their interaction with clouds. She is a professor at EPFL and the head of the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory (EERL). She is a participant in the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expeditions.
Joyce Penner is an atmospheric scientist known for her research on climate change, especially on the impact of aerosols and clouds.
Patricia K. Quinn is a atmospheric chemist working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's Pacific Marine Environmental Lab. She is known for her work on the impact of atmospheric aerosol particles on air quality and climate.
Trude Storelvmo is a Norwegian meteorologist who is a professor at the University of Oslo. She specializes in atmospheric science and studies the impact of aerosols and clouds on the climate of the Earth. She was awarded a European Research Council Starting Grant in 2018. She serves as editor-in-chief of Global and Planetary Change.
Colin Dermot O'Dowd is an Irish physicist and atmospheric scientist.
Joeri Rogelj is a Belgian climate scientist working on solutions to climate change. He explores how societies can transform towards sustainable futures. He is a Professor in Climate Science and Policy at the Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP) and Director of Research at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment, both at Imperial College London. He is also affiliated with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. He is an author of several climate reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and a member of the European Scientific Advisory Board for Climate Change.
Daniela N. Schmidt is a German earth scientist and professor at the University of Bristol. Her research investigates the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. She is the lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability for Europe.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)the scientific reports it has issued over the past two decades
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