Lauritsen Lecture: Benjamin Santer: Climate Fingerprints: How Do We Know that Human Activities Have Influenced Global Climate?

Presented By:

Caltech's Division of Physics, Mathematics & Astronomy

This event was digitally recorded and is available for viewing on the Caltech Theater site.

Dr. Benjamin Santer is one of the world's leading scientists in the identification of human-caused climate change. An atmospheric scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he has been a key contributor to all four Scientific Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. His early research on the climatic effects of changes in greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosols contributed to the historic "discernible human influence" conclusion of the 1995 Report by the IPCC.

Dr. Santer is an atmospheric scientist with the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His research focuses on identification of natural and anthropogenic "fingerprints" in observed climate records, the use of statistical methods in climate science, and climate model evaluation. He holds a Ph.D. in Climatology from the University of East Anglia, England. His awards include the Norbert Gerbier MUMM International Award (1998), a MacArthur Fellowship (1998), the U.S. Department of Energy's E.O. Lawrence Award (2002), and a Distinguished Scientist Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (2005).

The Lauritsen Memorial Lecture commemorates two former professors of physics at Caltech: Charles C. Lauritsen and Thomas Lauritsen. Together they served the Institute for more than 68 years, and their commitment to excellence played a significant role in Caltech's development and accomplishments.

www-pcmdi.llnl.gov