Held wins climate change award for work in models

The Frontiers of Knowledge Award is given annually to scholars who conduct world-class research in eight different topics, from economics to contemporary music, and is awarded by a panel of international judges.

Held is a senior research scientist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, a facility run by the University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Held, who has been working on the dynamics of the climate system for 34 years, is currently focusing his research on the dynamics of the atmosphere and their application to climate change.

Specifically, Held’s research on the influence of water vapor on global warming provides insight into how different climate zones will change in the future as a result of changes in global temperatures.

“As climate change alters water movement patterns in the atmosphere, dry areas will become drier, and wet areas will become wetter because the atmosphere transports water from wet to dry areas,” Held explained.

Held’s research also predicts that increases in the Earth’s temperature will possibly lead to significant reductions in rainfall. Temperature increases due to carbon dioxide would need to be addressed as the first step to preventing such a change, Held said.

While his research contributes to the academic discourse on climate change and involves potential methods used to tackle the issue, Held said he tries to avoid implicating policy into his work.

“I try to focus on science and present my understanding on the role of the atmosphere in climate change,” Held said.

Physics professor William Happer, who has conducted research showing that predicted temperature increase from atmospheric carbon dioxide may be exaggerated, praised Held’s research.

“Held has done very solid research on H2O, a molecule that is several times more important to greenhouse warming than CO2,” Happer said.

However, Happer explained that it is much more difficult to estimate the effects of water than those of carbon dioxide, as water can condense into clouds at low altitudes, contributing to the greenhouse effect in a complex way.

“I am pleased that people of Held’s ability are working on such problems,” Happer added.

Held had studied physics and earned a master’s degree in the field from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1971. His interest turned to climate change, as he wanted to conduct research on an issue that was “less esoteric” than those that physicists typically dealt with, he said.

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“I chose a problem that was closer to people’s lives,” Held said.

He completed his PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton in 1976. He is currently a fellow of the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union, as well as a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2003.

Held will accept the award at a ceremony in Madrid, Spain this June.

“A lot of people are contributing as importantly as I am in this field, so I am lucky to be part of this group,” Held said. “I don’t feel myself as standing out.”