Nobel Prize for Physics Goes to 3 for Climate Discoveries

What is the news?

Nobel Prize for physics 2021 has been awarded to scientists  Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi. This is the first time climate scientists have been awarded the Physics Nobel.

About the discovery

Manabe and Hasselmann were cited for their work in “the physical modeling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming”.

Manabe demonstrated how an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would increase global temperatures, laying the foundations for current climate models.

Hasselmann created a model that linked weather and climate, which helps us to explain why climate models can be reliable despite the seemingly chaotic nature of the weather.

Giorgio Parisi “built a deep physical and mathematical model” to understand complex systems in different fields – These are systems with a very high degree of randomness; weather and climate phenomena are examples of complex systems.

What is the significance?

This Nobel Prize would probably help in further mainstreaming climate science. Further, it will also convince people and governments, that are not convinced of the reality of the interconnectedness of anthropogenic activities and climate change. 

Read – About Nobel Prizes 

Source: This post is based on the following articles 

•  “Nobel physics prize goes to 3 for climate discoveries” published in The Hindu on 06 October 2021.
• “Explained: First Nobel for climate science” published in ‘Indian Express’ on 06 October 2021.