Syukuro Manabe: Mapping the Earth’s climate

In his Nobel lecture, Professor Syukuro Manabe explains how man influences the climate and how weather and climate modelling has allowed us to understand this relationship in more detail. Watch the full lecture.

On December 8, 2021, Princeton climatologist Prof. Syukuro Manabe, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize for “the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming”, delivered his Nobel Prize lecture, “Physical Modeling of Earth’s Climate.”

During the lecture, Manabe explains the importance of understanding climate systems and temperature change and how they influence global patterns such as changes in water availability.

Syukuro Manabe Nobel Lecture
Professor Manabe explains the radiative heat balance of earth during his Nobel Prize lecture.

“The numerical simulation techniques developed by Prof. Manabe, which take into account the interaction between the atmosphere and the oceans, are the basis of the Earth system modelling and predictions used today for long-term prediction and climate prediction, and are indispensable not only for global warming prediction but also for daily to seasonal forecasting,” states the World Meteorological Organization in response to his prize. 

The prediction of climate change without [an] accompanying understanding of it is no better than [the] prediction of [a] fortune teller.

Professor Syukuro Manabe.

Share

Article

COP29 Spotlight | Loss and Damage: At the forefront of climate impacts

“We need to pull together and scale up resources within and beyond the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and ensure that these resources reach those most in need,” say CMCC experts in the buildup to COP29. Following the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund, economic and adaptation experts have focused on estimating the amount of financial resources needed to support vulnerable regions whilst promoting a just allocation that reflects the unequal distribution of climate impacts. After the official operationalization of the Fund and the first round of commitments, pledges have reached over 700 million USD in 2024.

Interview

The most powerful weapon of change

Is generating more energy with less emissions a farfetched utopia? Far from it, international expert Pia Løvengreen Alessi shows us the faces behind the emerging technical, organisational, and behavioural revolution that has the force to change the world. A revolution involving younger generations, over a billion people without access to energy, as well as present and future global leaders. A revolution that is being carried forward with what Nelson Mandela called the most powerful weapon of change.

Article

Investment trends sound a wake-up call towards goal of universal access to energy

Finance to provide electricity to millions of people who live without it is rising, but too slowly to meet the global goal to achieve universal …