Konrad Steffen
Konrad Steffen | |
---|---|
Born | 1952 (age 71–72) |
Citizenship | Swiss-American |
Alma mater | ETH Zurich |
Known for | Research into climate change in the Arctic and Arctic sea ice |
Spouse | Yes |
Children | Two |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Glaciology |
Institutions | University of Colorado Boulder, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research |
Thesis | Surface temperature and sea ice of an arctic polynya: north water in winter : Canad. and greenlandic high arctic (1985) |
Doctoral advisor | Atsumu Ohmura |
Notable students | Jason Box |
Website | www |
Konrad "Koni" Steffen (born 1952)[1] is a glaciologist and the former director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, a position he held from 2005[2] until he took office as the director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research on July 1, 2012.[3] He is known for his research into Arctic sea ice and the glaciers of Greenland, and how they are affected by global warming.[4] He has often traveled to Greenland to study these glaciers firsthand; for example, when studying Petermann Glacier for three weeks in 2004, Steffen did so from a camp set up 4,000 feet up the flanks of the glacier's ice cap.[5] He also operates a network of 20 weather stations on the Greenland ice sheet,[6] the first of which, Swiss Camp, he established in 1990.[7] He has argued that due to this ice sheet melting faster than anticipated, sea levels could rise by about 3 feet by 2100, considerably higher than the IPCC's upper limit of 59 centimetres (1.94 ft),[8] and that Greenland might lose all its ice in 10,000 years, but Antarctica would take considerably longer, since it is so much bigger.[9]
Education
Steffen attended ETH Zurich, from which he received a Doctor of Science degree in 1977 and a Diplom in 1983.[10]
Career
Steffen was an associate professor of geography at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1991 to 1997, whereupon he became a full professor there.[10] He was a lead author of the "Observations: Cryosphere" chapter of the IPCC AR5, released in 2013.[11]
References
- ^ New professors at the ETH Zurich appointed
- ^ Konrad Steffen, CIRES
- ^ "Konrad Steffen new WSL Director". Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
- ^ "Water Flowing Through Ice Sheets Accelerates Warming, Could Speed Up Ice Flow, Says New Study". US News. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Revkin, Andrew (8 June 2004). "An Icy Riddle as Big as Greenland". New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ Williams, Jack (5 July 2001). "Greenland should hold answers to climate puzzles". USA Today. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Clynes, Tom (3 July 2007). "Konrad Steffen: The Global Warming Prophet". Popular Science. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ Warner, Joel (12 December 2007). "The Ice Man". Boise Weekly. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- ^ Krulwich, Robert (31 January 2014). "A Hunk Of Planet Dissolves Before Our Eyes". NPR. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ^ a b Konrad Steffen CV
- ^ Observations: Cryosphere