The BBVA Foundation has awarded climate scientist Kerry Emanuel the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change.<\/p>\n
MIT’s press release:<\/p>\n
Emanuel\u2019s research has provided fundamental contributions to understanding of tropical cyclones and how they are affected by climate change.<\/p>\n
The BBVA Foundation — which promotes knowledge based on research and artistic and cultural creation, and supports activity on the analysis of emerging issues in five strategic areas: environment, biomedicine and health, economy and society, basic sciences and technology, and Culture — recognizes MIT Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science Kerry Emanuel\u2019s body of research on hurricanes and their evolution in a changing climate, as well as his effectiveness for communicating these issues. The annually bestowed Climate Change award acknowledges \u201cboth research endeavors in confronting this challenge and impactful actions informed by the best science.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy understanding the essential physics of atmospheric convection\u2026he has unraveled the behavior of tropical cyclones \u2013 hurricanes and typhoons \u2013 as our climate changes,\u201d cites the foundation\u2019s conferring committee.<\/p>\n
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, after completing degrees at MIT and later joining the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) faculty, Emanuel pinned down the mechanisms behind hurricanes and how warming surface oceans fuel storms and increase intensity as the climate changes. This issue is of particular concern to humanity because, of the natural events, tropical cyclones cause many deaths and bring about high economic costs. Further research has probed connections between anthropogenic global warming and cyclone frequency, intensity, development time, and geographical expansion of hurricane occurrence.<\/p>\n
The selection committee noted Emanuel\u2019s exceptional theories and research that \u201chas opened new approaches for assessing risks from weather extremes.\u201d He has expanded this work by co-founding the MIT Lorenz Center, a climate think tank which fosters creative approaches to learning how climate works.<\/p>\n
For Bjorn Stevens, BBVA Foundation committee chairman and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, \u201cit is hard to imagine an area of climate science where one person\u2019s leadership is so incontestable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The BBVA Foundation has awarded climate scientist Kerry Emanuel the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change. MIT’s press release: Emanuel\u2019s research has provided fundamental contributions to understanding of tropical cyclones and how they are affected by climate change. The BBVA Foundation — which promotes knowledge based on research and artistic and cultural creation, and … Continue reading Congratulations Kerry Emanuel<\/span>