Kerry Andrew Emanuel (born April 21, 1955) is an American professor of meteorology currently working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. In particular he has specialized in atmospheric convection and the mechanisms acting to intensify hurricanes.
Kerry Emanuel | |
|---|---|
 Emanuel in 2016 | |
| Born | April 21, 1955 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Known for | Dynamics, hurricanes |
| Awards | Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Meteorology |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | Inertial stability and mesoscale convective systems (1978) |
| Doctoral advisor | Jule Charney |
| Website | eapsweb |
Research
editHe hypothesized in 1994 about a superpowerful type of hurricane which could be formed if average sea surface temperature increased another 15C more than it's ever been (see "hypercane").
In a March 2008 paper published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, he put forward the conclusion that global warming is likely to increase the intensity but decrease the frequency of hurricane and cyclone activity.[1] Gabriel Vecchi, of NOAA said of Emanuel's announcement, "While his results don't rule out the possibility that global warming has contributed to the recent increase in activity in the Atlantic, they suggest that other factors—possibly in addition to global warming—are likely to have been substantial contributors to the observed increase in activity."[2]
Lorenz Center
editAlong with Daniel Rothman, Emanuel co-founded the MIT Lorenz Center in 2011, named for Edward N. Lorenz.[3][4]
2012 threats
editIn 2012, Emanuel served as keynote speaker for a conference for Republican voters concerned about climate change. Following the conference, the blog Climate Depot posted Emanuel's email address. After the conference and the exposure of Emanuel's email address on blogs, Emanuel received a large volume of emails "laced with menacing language, expletives, and personal threats of violence," according to editor James West of Mother Jones.[5]
Nuclear power views
editIn 2013, with other leading experts, he was co-author of an open letter to policy makers, which stated that "continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity's ability to avoid dangerous climate change."[6]
Recognition
editHe was named one of the Time 100 influential people of 2006.[7] In 2007, he was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.[8] He was elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2019. He was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 2020.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Emanuel, Kerry (2008). "The Hurricane-Climate Connection" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 89 (5): ES10–ES20. Bibcode:2008BAMS...89S..10E. doi:10.1175/BAMS-89-5-Emanuel. S2CID 54187458. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
The weight of available evidence suggests that multidecadal variability of hurricane season tropical Atlantic SST and Northern Hemispheric surface temperature... is controlled mostly by time-varying radiative forcing owing to solar variability, major volcanic eruptions, and anthropogenic sulfate aerosols and greenhouse gases, though the response to this forcing may be modulated by natural modes of variability.
- ^ Eric Berger (2008-04-12). "Hurricane expert reconsiders global warming's impact". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
- ^ "Lorenz Center | Kerry Emanuel".
- ^ "Lorenz Center".
- ^ West, James (13 January 2012). "US climate scientist's wife suffers email 'frenzy of hate'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ "Top climate change scientists issue open letter to policy influencers - CNN.com". CNN. 3 November 2013.
- ^ Jeffery Kluger (30 April 2006). "Kerry Emanuel". Time. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
I didn't expect to get people's attention with this paper," he says, "but the timing, so close to Katrina, may have helped wake them up some.
- ^ Elizabeth A. Thomson (1 May 2007). "Five from MIT elected to National Academy of Sciences". Massachusetts Institute of Technology News Office. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
- ^ "Kerry Emanuel". Royal Society. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
Selected publications
edit- Emanuel, K.A.(1994): Atmospheric Convection, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506630-8
- Emanuel, K.A.(2005): Divine Wind: The History And Science Of Hurricanes, ISBN 0-19-514941-6
- Emanuel, K.A.(2005): "Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years". Nature
- Emanuel, K.A.(2007): Phaeton’s Reins - The human hand in climate change. Boston Review.
- Emanuel, K.A.(2007): What We Know About Climate Change, The MIT Press & Boston Review. ISBN 978-0-262-05089-0
- Emanuel, K.A.(2008): "Hurricanes and Global Warming: Results from Downscaling IPCC AR4 Simulations". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
External links
edit- Emanuel's website
- Kerry Emanuel publications indexed by Google Scholar
- Brian Tang and Kerry Emanuel (2010): "Mid-level ventilation's constraint on tropical cyclone intensity". Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Volume 67, Issue 6 .
- Brian Tang and Kerry Emanuel (2012): "A ventilation index for tropical cyclones". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Volume 93, Issue 12.