Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
Biographical Information
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber is Founding Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate
Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany; Professor at Potsdam and Oxford Universities; Distinguished
Science Adviser of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UK; and
Chief Climate Adviser to the German Government. H. J. Schellnhuber CBE, was trained
as a mathematician and physicist. He received a scholarship to attend the University of
Regensburg, and completed a doctorate in theoretical physics there in 1980. He has made
remarkable contributions in the field of Earth System Science, especially regarding the
theory of complex non-linear systems as well as regional and global environmental analysis.
He is the author of over 250 articles or books on these subjects. His theories predict
the emergence of planetary “tipping points” or unstable ecosystems, where rapid environmental
damage could trigger dramatic knock-on effects to occur on a global scale. As an
authority on the analysis and prediction of the impact of changing climatic parameters,
he actively serves on many national and international panels for scientific strategies and
policy advice regarding environmental and developmental issues. At present, he is chief
climate adviser to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a member of the high-level
expert group advising EC President José Manuel Barroso, and is vice-chair of the German
Advisory Council of Global Change (WBGU). Among the many scientific honors he has
received, he is an elected member of the prestigious Max Planck Society, the US National
Academy of Sciences and the German Academy Leopoldina. |
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