Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
| Hans Joachim Schellnhuber | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
7 June 1950 Ortenburg (Bavaria) |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | Climatology |
| Institutions |
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research University of Potsdam |
| Alma mater | University of Regensburg |
| Notable awards | German Environment Prize 2007, Volvo Environment Prize 2011 |
Hans Joachim "John" Schellnhuber (born 7 June 1950) is a German theoretical physicist and founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and chair of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU).
Schellnhuber studied mathematics and physics, obtaining a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Regensburg in 1980, followed in 1985 by habilitation (qualification for office) in theoretical physics at the University of Oldenburg. In 1981, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working across the corridor from its director Walter Kohn, who became one of his academic supervisors.
Originally interested in solid state physics and quantum mechanics, Schellnhuber became drawn to complex systems and nonlinearity or chaos theory. As a full professor for theoretical physics and then director at the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment at Oldenburg University, he was involved in analysing the structure of ocean currents.
In 1991, he was called upon to create the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and became its director in 1993 – making it grow from zero to one of the world's most renowned climate research institutes with today more than 300 employees following an interdisciplinary approach.
As early as 1995 Schellnhuber proposed the two degrees guardrail for global warming which was adopted first by the German government and the European Union and then, following the Copenhagen accord in 2009, as a global target by governments worldwide.
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