Open AccessSteven C. Wofsy Receives 2012 Roger Revelle Medal: Response
Author(s) -
Wofsy Steven C.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1002/2013eo010031
Subject(s) - medal , earth system science , environmental ethics , atmosphere (unit) , earth (classical element) , history , astrobiology , earth science , meteorology , art history , philosophy , geography , oceanography , geology , biology , physics , astronomy
Modern views of the Earth's climate, oceans and atmosphere, and appreciation of human impacts on these systems, are relatively new. Less than a decade before I started my professional career, a small nucleus of pioneering scientists, including many previous recipients of the Revelle Medal, began to discern unexpected changes in atmospheric composition and to assess the implications for the global environment. They initially did not imagine that global environmental changes would be observed in their lifetimes: The Earth system was thought to be too massive compared with human endeavors.