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Michael E. Mann

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Michael E. Mann
Born (1965-12-28) 28 December 1965 (age 58)
Amherst, Massachusetts
Nationality United States
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley, Yale University
Known forTemperature record of the past 1000 years
AwardsPhillip M. Orville Prize,
NOAA Outstanding Scientific Publication award,
John Russell Mather Paper of the Year,
American Geophysical Union Editors' Citation for Excellence in Refereeing,
2007 Nobel Peace Prize (jointly with other IPCC members)
Scientific career
FieldsClimatology (Dendochronology, Paleoclimatology)
InstitutionsPennsylvania State University, University of Virginia

Michael E. Mann (born 28 December 1965) is an American climatologist, and author of numerous peer-reviewed journal publications. He is currently the Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University. He is best known as lead author of a number of articles on paleoclimate and as one of the originators of a graph of temperature trends over the last thousand years, dubbed the "hockey stick graph" for its hockey stick-like shape. The graph was highlighted in an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, receiving both praise and criticism, and has been the subject of a long-running controversy.

Early life

Mann was born at Amherst, Massachusetts. He studied physics and applied mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, from which he graduated B.S. in 1989, and subsequently gained a Ph.D in geology from Yale University in 1996.

Career and publications

From 1999 to 2005 Mann taught at the University of Virginia, in the Department of Environmental Sciences. In 2009 he was promoted to professor at Pennsylvania State University, in the Department of Meteorology and Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and since 2005 has been Director of the university's interdepartmental Earth System Science Center.

He has been organizing committee chair for the National Academy of Sciences 'Frontiers of Science' and has served as a committee member or advisor for other National Academy of Sciences panels. He served as editor for the Journal of Climate and has been a member of numerous international and U.S. scientific advisory panels and steering groups.

He is the lead author or co-author of over 90 scientific publications, the majority of which have appeared in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals. He was a Lead Author on the “Observed Climate Variability and Change” chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Scientific Assessment Report (2001). Between 1999-2010 he served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on five research projects funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and four more funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and co-investigator on other projects funded by the NOAA, NSF, Department of Energy, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

Mann is best known for his work on the temperature record of the past 1000 years, which has involved reconstructing climatic fluctuations over the past several millennia, based on evidence from tree rings, ice cores, corals and other physical proxies. In 1998 Mann, Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes co-authored a study titled Global-scale temperature patterns and climate forcing over the past six centuries which included a graph showing an abrupt rise in global temperatures in the late 20th century after centuries of relative stability. In 1999 they extended their study to cover ten centuries, in a paper titled Northern hemisphere temperature during the past millennium: inferences, uncertainties and limitations. The equivalent graph from the 1999 paper was dubbed the "hockey stick" for its shape. It was featured prominently in the IPCC Third Assessment Report in 2001 and gained iconic status as well as becoming the focus of controversy. His most recent work has focused on the contribution that changes in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation have made to the pre-industrial climate.

In 2005, Mann co-founded the RealClimate blog and is one of a number of climate scientists who have contributed to the blog.

Awards

Mann has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and prizes. In 1997 he was awarded the Phillip M. Orville Prize for an outstanding dissertation in the earth sciences at Yale University. His co-authorship of a scientific paper published by the science journal Nature won him an award from the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 2002 and another co-authored paper published in the same year won the NOAA's outstanding scientific publication award. He was named by Scientific American as one of fifty "leading visionaries in science and technology." The Association of American Geographers awarded him the John Russell Mather Paper of the Year award in 2005 for a co-authored paper published in the Journal of Climate.

The American Geophysical Union awarded Mann its Editors' Citation for Excellence in Refereeing in 2006 to recognize his contributions in reviewing manuscripts for its Geophysical Research Letters journal. The work of Mann and several hundred other scientists who contributed to the IPCC's Third Assessment Report received recognition with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Climate change controversies

Hockey stick graph

Main article: Hockey stick controversy

The Mann-Bradley-Hughes study of global temperature patterns has been at the center of a long-running controversy focusing on the "hockey stick" graph. Its appearance in the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report played a part in it becoming focus of attacks from those opposed to the scientific consensus on climate change. The conclusions represented by the graph were nonetheless endorsed by the US National Academy of Sciences in a 2006 report. Mann has noted that his findings have been "independently verified by independent teams using alternative methods and alternative data sources". More than a dozen subsequent scientific papers produced reconstructions broadly similar to the original "hockey stick" graph. Almost all agreed that the warmest decade in the last thousand years was probably that at the end of the 20th century.

Climatic Research Unit emails

Main article: Climatic Research Unit email controversy

A number of Mann's emails with fellow climate researchers at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia were stolen and published on the Internet in November 2009, sparking the Climatic Research Unit email controversy. Patrick Michaels, a climatologist working for the Cato Institute, alleged that Mann had encouraged colleagues to block the publication of papers disputing his work. Mann rejected allegations of wrongdoing, stating that the e-mails had been "misrepresented, cherry-picked ... completely twisted to imply the opposite of what was actually being said". Pennsylvania State University commissioned two reviews which reported in February and July 2010 respectively. They cleared Mann of any research misconduct, stating that "there is no substance" to the allegations against him, though criticizing him for sharing unpublished manuscripts with third parties.

The outcome of the reviews was well-received among scientists and academics. Francesca Grifo of the Union of Concerned Scientists said the report "shows that universities and scientists have effective systems in place to police themselves." Former Republican congressman Sherwood Boehlert of the Project on Climate Science, an environmental advocacy coalition, called the reviews "a welcome return to common sense" in the face of "a manufactured distraction". The outcome was criticized by Patrick Michaels. Josh Roskam of the Institute of Public Affairs asserted that the reviews had not answered questions "about why data was missing; why data was not shared; why there hasn't been a full and open, transparent process." Republican Representative Darrell Issa said that the PSU report called into question Mann's work, and former Fox News contributor Steven Milloy stated about the PSU report, "It was set up to be a total whitewash and the panel made no effort to investigate."

Mann welcomed the reports' findings and commented that they "should finally put to rest the baseless allegations against me and my research."

Virginia Attorney General's investigation

Main article: Attorney General of Virginia's climate science investigation

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli began an investigation of Mann in April 2010 focusing on his work at the University of Virginia between 1999-2005. He served a civil investigative demand on the university seeking a broad range of documents, alleging that the hacked e-mails indicated that fraud may have been committed in relation to the award of four grants. The allegation was rejected by Mann and was criticized by scientific and civil liberties organizations as being unfounded, unwarranted and an attack on academic freedom. The Union of Concerned Scientists also released a letter signed by more than 900 scientists and academics in Virginia opposing the attorney general’s probe. The university filed suit to overturn the demand, citing protection under the First Amendment and charging that Cuccinelli was exceeding his authority.

Selected publications

References

  1. ^ Downie, David Leonard; Brash, Kate; Vaughan, Catherine (2009). Climate Change: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 169–170. ISBN 9781598841527.
  2. "Curriculum Vitae for Michael E. Mann". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  3. ^ "Final Investigation Report Involving Dr. Michael E. Mann" (PDF). The Pennsylvania State University. June 4, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  4. ^ Fred Pearce (9 February 2010). "Part three: Hockey stick graph took pride of place in IPCC report, despite doubts | Environment". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  5. Gill, Victoria (2009-11-26). "Past climate anomalies explained". BBC News.
  6. Brumfiel G (2006). "Academy affirms hockey-stick graph". Nature. 441 (7097): 1032–3. doi:10.1038/4411032a. PMID 16810211. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  7. Warner, Frank (2010-01-03). "Penn State climate professor: 'I'm a skeptic'". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2010-07-06. And in a wide-ranging interview, Mann says that not all global warming science is settled. It's not yet certain, for example, that the heat is reducing the world population of polar bears or that it increases the number of hurricanes, he said.
  8. Fred Pearce (9 February 2010). "Part four: Climate change debate overheated after sceptics grasped 'hockey stick' | Environment". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  9. Fogarty, David (2010-04-25). "Climate debate gets ugly as world moves to curb CO2". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  10. "Patrick J. Michaels". Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  11. ^ Michaels, Patrick (July 12, 2010). "The Climategate Whitewash Continues". Wall Street Journal. Cite error: The named reference "Michaels" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. Fred Pearce (9 February 2010). "Part two: How the 'climategate' scandal is bogus and based on climate sceptics' lies | Environment". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  13. Irvine C. (2009-12-03). "Climategate: Phil Jones accused of making error of judgment by colleague". Daily Telegraph.
  14. Foley, Henry C. (3 February 2010). "RA-10 Inquiry Report: Concerning the Allegations of Research Misconduct Against Dr. Michael E. Mann, Department of Meteorology, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University" (PDF). The Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 7 February 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Donovan, Samantha (July 2, 2010). "'Climategate' scientist cleared by US university". ABC.net.au. Melbourne, Oz: ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). OCLC 271540708. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  16. ^ "Second University Review Clears Climate Scientist". WSJ.com. Associated Press. July 2, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  17. Template:Cite article
  18. Eilperin, Juliet (2009-11-21). "Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center". WashingtonPost.com. Washington, DC: Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 2269358. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  19. Template:Cite article
  20. "ESSC Director Mann comments on Penn State RA-10 Inquiry". Earth System Science Center — News and Events. PennState.
  21. "Final Findings of the Penn State RA-10 Investigation Released". Earth System Science Center — News and Events. PennState.
  22. Helderman, Rosalind S. (2010-05-04). "State attorney general demands ex-professor's files from University of Virginia". Washington Post.
  23. Walker, Julian (2010-05-19). "Academics fight Cuccinelli's call for climate-change records". The Virginian-Pilot.
  24. McNeill, Brian (2010-05-28). "UVa fights inquiry by Cuccinelli". Charlottesville Daily Progress.

External links

External image
image icon Michael Mann with tree rings
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