The 2019 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement – often described as the ‘Nobel Prize for the Environment’ – has been awarded to Michael E. Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science, Penn State, and Warren M. Washington, distinguished scholar at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement is an annual award for environmental science, environmental health, and energy. Tyler Laureates receive a $200,000 cash prize and a medallion. The prize is administered by the University of Southern California and was established by John and Alice Tyler in 1973.
Warren M. Washington
From tylerprize.org/...
Recognizing the potential of early 1960’s computers, a young African-American scientist named Warren M. Washington overcame extraordinary technical limitations, to collaborate on the construction of one of the first-ever computer models of Earth’s climate. As computing power increased, Dr. Washington lead a cooperative effort to make additions to his atmospheric climate model, including oceans, sea ice, and rising CO2 levels.These early models allowed scientists to predict the impact of increasing CO2, and were instrumental to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment – for which Dr. Washington shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Considered a global leader in climate modeling, Dr. Washington advised six U.S. Presidents on Climate Change: Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama. Dr. Washington’s public service was recognized by President Obama, who awarded him the 2010 National Medal of Science.
From en.wikipedia.org/… — Warren M. Washington (born August 28, 1936) is an American atmospheric scientist, a former chair of the National Science Board, and currently senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. Washington is an internationally recognized expert in atmospheric sciences and climate research specializing in computer modeling of the Earth's climate. Alma mater: Oregon State University and Pennsylvania State University.
Michael E. Mann
From tylerprize.org/…
To reconstruct Earth’s climate beyond the limits of human records, Dr. Michael E. Mann pioneered the use of ‘climate proxy data’ – including ice cores, tree rings, and lake sediments – to estimate global temperatures more than 1,000 years into the past. His analysis showed compelling evidence that Earth’s climate was getting warmer; producing a pattern which became known as the ‘Hockey Stick Graph’ (1999) – ‘the most controversial chart in science’.
Fossil fuel lobbying groups immediately began to attack the Hockey Stick and discredit its lead author. Dr. Mann endured blistering legal and political attacks, including the carefully-orchestrated email hack that became known as ‘Climategate’. Despite intense public scrutiny, Dr. Mann chose not to retreat to the lab, but instead doubled-down on his efforts to make Climate Change science accessible to the public. Dr. Mann has appeared extensively in the media, and has advised climate advocates including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Brown and Bill Nye.
From en.wikipedia.org/… — Michael Evan Mann (born December 28, 1965) is an American climatologist and geophysicist, currently director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, who has contributed to the scientific understanding of historic climate change based on the temperature record of the past thousand years. He has pioneered techniques to find patterns in past climate change. Alma mater: University of California, Berkeley and Yale University.
A Few Tributes
Additional Info.
On May 2, Dr. Mann and Dr. Washington will deliver a public lecture on their work at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center. In a private ceremony on May 3, the Tyler Prize Executive Committee and the international environmental community will honor the two Laureates during a ceremony at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, San Francisco.
This is a day of celebration for the winners of the Tyler Prize and for all of humanity, that believes in science and respects scientists for their tireless work in helping us understand our world. Hopefully, the understanding will help generate solutions and political will around the world to help steer Earth away from its current path of doom.
Further Reading
- Announcement — tylerprize.org/…
- Q&A with Warren Washington — tylerprize.org/...
- Q&A with Michael Mann - tylerprize.org/…
- Tyler Prize wiki — en.wikipedia.org/…
- Warren Washington & Michael Mann Awarded 2019 Tyler Prize For Environmental Achievement — cleantechnica.com/…
- Warren Washington bio at www.cgd.ucar.edu/...