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Raymond T. Pierrehumbert

Raymond T. Pierrehumbert is Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. He was a lead author on the IPCC Third Assessment Report, and co-author on several National Research Council reports concerning climate change. He was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996, which was used to launch collaborative work on the climate of Early Mars with collaborators in Paris. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Republic of France. Pierrehumbert's central research interests concern the physics of Earth’s climate over time, as well as the climates of planets in our solar system and the exoplanets beyond.

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Articles by Raymond T. Pierrehumbert

Analysis
23 June 2017
Climate Change

The trouble with geoengineers “hacking the planet”

Raymond T. Pierrehumbert

Despite all the hype, geoengineering would not be simple or easy, or a one-time solution, or buy us any time. Instead, geoengineering would be a difficult undertaking that humanity would have to commit to essentially forever—and still not fix the underlying problem. Assuming it even works.

Analysis
25 January 2017
BiosecurityClimate ChangeNuclear EnergyNuclear WeaponsSpecial TopicsTechnology and Security
AfricaAmericasAsiaEurope/RussiaMiddle East

It is 30 seconds closer to midnight

Lynn EdenRod EwingSivan KarthaHerbert LinSuzet McKinneySteven MillerRaymond T. PierrehumbertRamamurti RajaramanRobert RosnerJennifer SimsSusan SolomonRichard C. J. SomervilleSharon SquassoniDavid Titley

The full text of the Bulletin Science and Security Board 2017 Doomsday Clock statement, which moved the Clock to two and a half minutes to midnight.

3 March 2016
Europe/Russia

How to decarbonize? Look to Sweden

Raymond T. Pierrehumbert

Bringing global warming to a halt requires that worldwide net emissions of carbon dioxide be brought to essentially zero; the sooner this occurs, the less warming our descendants for the next 1000 years and more will need to adapt to.

Analysis
22 January 2016
BiosecurityClimate ChangeNuclear EnergyNuclear WeaponsSpecial TopicsTechnology and Security
AfricaAmericasAsiaEurope/RussiaMiddle East

It is still three minutes to midnight

Lynn EdenRobert RosnerRod EwingLawrence M. KraussSivan KarthaThomas R. PickeringRaymond T. PierrehumbertRamamurti RajaramanJennifer SimsRichard C. J. SomervilleSharon SquassoniDavid Titley

In keeping the hands of the Doomsday Clock at three minutes to midnight, the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board mean to make a clear statement: The world situation remains highly threatening to humanity, and decisive action to reduce the danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change is urgently required.

Analysis
19 January 2015
BiosecurityClimate ChangeNuclear EnergyNuclear WeaponsTechnology and Security
AfricaAmericasAsiaEurope/RussiaMiddle East

Three minutes and counting

Lynn EdenRobert RosnerRod EwingSivan KarthaEdward "Rocky" Kolb Lawrence M. KraussLeon LedermanRaymond T. PierrehumbertM. V. RamanaJennifer SimsRichard C. J. SomervilleSharon SquassoniElizabeth J. WilsonDavid TitleyRamamurti Rajaraman

Today, more than 25 years after the end of the Cold War, the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board have looked closely at the world situation and found it so threatening that the hands of the Doomsday Clock must once again be set at three minutes to midnight.