Reid Bryson

Reid Bryson (7 June 1920 – 11 June 2008 [1]) was an American atmospheric scientist, geologist and meteorologist. He was a professor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He completed a B.A. in geology at Denison University in 1941 and a Ph.D. in meteorology from University of Chicago in 1948. In 1946 he joined the faculty of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and in 1948 he became the first chairman of the Department of Meteorology. He became the first director of the Institute for Environmental Studies in 1970.

Contents

Honors and awards

Bryson was made a Global Laureate by the United Nations Global Environment Program in 1990.[1]

Views

Bryson was an opponent of the theory of global warming and a previous supporter of the claim that humans were causing global cooling.[2] While he argued that climate change and a global increase in temperature are real, he did not believe that they are caused by human activity. Rather, he argued that they are part of natural global climate cycles, particularly the end of the Little Ice Age:

"All this argument is the temperature going up or not, it’s absurd," Bryson continues. "Of course it’s going up. It has gone up since the early 1800s, before the Industrial Revolution, because we’re coming out of the Little Ice Age, not because we’re putting more carbon dioxide into the air." [2]

Selected publications

Bryson wrote more than 230 articles and five books, including Climates of Hunger, which won the Banta Medal for Literary Achievement.[3]

Books

Articles

External links

References

  1. ^ "UW prof Bryson, climatology pioneer, dies at 88". The Capital Times. 2008-06-12. http://www.madison.com/tct/news/291195. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 
  2. ^ Hoopman, Dave (May 2007). "The Faithful Heretic: A Wisconsin Icon Pursues Tough Questions". Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News. http://www.wecnmagazine.com/2007issues/may/may07.html. Retrieved 2008-04-21.