Climate Change Expertise from University of Melbourne acknowledged in 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
Media Release, Thursday 18 October 2007
The scientific contributions of Professor David Karoly, Federation Fellow in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and colleagues around the world have been recognised in the awarding of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize jointly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore, last week.
The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to the IPCC and to Al Gore "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change".
Professor Karoly was heavily involved in the preparation of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, as a Lead Author of the chapter “Assessment of observed changes and responses in natural and managed systems” and an author of its Summary for Policy Makers.
“It is critical that the issues of climate change are better understood and addressed globally.
“I am thrilled to have contributed to the work of the IPCC and for the organisation to be jointly awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. This is very rewarding for all who have contributed.”
The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report included a series of reports prepared by three Working Groups: I) The Physical Science Basis, II) Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, and III) Mitigation.
Professor Karoly was one of only two scientists to be heavily involved in both Working Groups I and II. He was identified also as a link person to encourage communication between the groups and was part of a select group of scientists asked to write a synthesis of the entire report. The synthesis report integrates the information around 6 key topics and is designed to be useful to policymakers, researchers and students alike
“I hope this high profile award assists in bringing nations together in a cohesive global effort to diminish the human impact on the climate of our planet and to secure an environmentally stable and sustainable future for the next generations.”
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Professor Karoly has 27 years of experience in the field of meteorology and climate change research. He is active in research into the dynamics of the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere and its variability on time scales from days to decades.
Specific research interests include greenhouse climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and interannual climate variations due to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation.
Professor Karoly joined the School of Earth Sciences in May 2007 as an ARC Federation Fellow funded by the Australian government. He is a member of the Steering Committee for the Climate Adaptation Science and Policy Initiative at Melbourne and on the Advisory Group for the new university breadth courses on Climate Change being introduced as part of the new Melbourne Model.
From 2003, he held the Williams Chair in the School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma. During 2001-2002, he was Professor of Meteorology and Head of the School of Mathematical Sciences at Monash University. From August 1995, he was Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Southern Hemisphere Meteorology at Monash University until it closed in June 2000.
He is a member of a number of international committees, including the CLIVAR/WMO Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices and the CLIVAR Working Group on Coupled Modelling.
For more information contact
Professor David Karoly
School of Earth Sciences
University of Melbourne
Mobile: 0433 692 863
Rebecca Scott
Media Officer
University of Melbourne
Mobile: 0417 164 791
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