Nobel Prize in physics for climate change

Nobel Prize in physics for climate change

The American Syukuro Manabe, the German Klaus Hasselman and the Italian Giorgio Parisi have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research into climate change and patterns in chaotic systems. The Nobel Prize Committee announced this on Tuesday.

Earth
Manabe proved in the 1960s that an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would cause the earth’s temperature to rise. His work forms the basis of climate models that are still used today.

Hasselmann took the next step ten years later. How can you prove that something as changeable as the weather is still in line with the long-term climate models? With his theories in hand, he was able to reveal the ‘fingerprints’ of climate change in the chaos of the weather, such as slow changes in the state of the oceans.

Complex
Manabe and Hasselmann share half of the prize. The other half goes to Parisi, who since the 1980s has been searching for patterns in seemingly disorderly conditions. His research not only had an impact on physics, but also on disciplines such as mathematics, biology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

This year’s Nobel Prize is ten million Swedish crowns, or about 985 thousand euros. Nine Dutch nationals have ever received the Nobel Prize in Physics. The most recent is the Dutch-British Andre Geim, who is of Russian origin. He received the prize in 2010. (HOP, BB)