Jan Veizer

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Ján Veizer (born June 22, 1941) is the Distinguished University Professor (emeritus) of Earth Sciences at the University of Ottawa and Institute for Geology, Mineralogy und Geophysis, of Bochum Ruhr University, he held the NSERC/Noranda/CIFAR Industrial Chair in Earth System Isotope and Environmental Geochemistry until 2004. He is an award-winning isotope geochemist; his research interests have included the use of chemical and isotopic techniques in determining Earth's climatic and environmental history.[1]

Born in Pobedim, Slovakia, Veizer has received the Killam Award (Canada Council, 1986), the 1987 W.W. Hutchison Medal for young individuals making exceptional advances in Canadian earth science research; the 1991 Willet G. Miller Medal for outstanding contributions in geology; the 1992 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize,which carried a 1.55 million euro value, awarded for understanding of the geochemistry of sediments; the 1995 Logan Medal which is the Geological Association of Canada's highest honour ; the 2000 Bancroft Award for contributions furthering the public understanding of the Earth sciences.

During his career, Veizer oversaw the collection of a series of more than 4,500[2] measurement data of oxygen isotopes in calcite and aragonite shells used to build up climate and sedimentary data of the whole Phanerozoic based on tropical sea surface temperatures.

Dispute about influence of cosmic rays on climate change

In cooperation with other scientists, Veizer compared the reconstructed seawater paleotemperature records for the past 545 million years with the variable galactic cosmic ray flux (CRF) reaching Earth and reconstructed partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 (pCO2).

According to a - cautiously worded - paper in Nature 2000[3] written together with Yves Godderis and Louis M. François, the results can be reconciled if atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were not the principal driver of climate variability on geological timescales for at least one-third of the Phanerozoic eon, or if the reconstructed carbon dioxide concentrations are not reliable.

In 2003, together with Nir J. Shaviv, an Israeli astrophycisist, Veizer published a paper in GSA Today confirming,[2] a reduced (capped) influence of carbon dioxide to Climate Change and attributing a more significant influence to cosmic rays. While the mechanism seems not yet to be fully understood, the empirical data showed a suitable fit. However, the paper was criticized by a subsequent publication by Stefan Rahmstorf et al. in Eos, in which the authors wrote, "the correlation of CRF [cosmic ray flux] and climate over the past 520 m.y. appears to not hold up under scrutiny."[4]

Several German (Veizer has been working in Bochum as well) reacted toward the first summary of the paper with a sharp press release published by Potsdam Institute für Klimafolgenforschung (PIK)[5] denouncing the paper as "useless", "outdated" and questioning the reputability of the researchers and the used methods.[5]

Veizer and Nir J. Shaviv disputed personal attacks and claims against their scientific integrity, they wondered as well why the attackers did not take the time to read the complete article before going to the press nor contacted them before.[5] They highlighted that both scientists first had collected and found fitting data from totally different fields and later decided to write the paper together.[5]

Veizer and Shaviv underlined the applicability of their research to today's climate data and expressed as well their respect for scientists working in line with the IPCC.[5] Using the model on a doubled carbon dioxide content in the last century would result in a warming of 1.5 °C, according Veizer and Shaviv very much in line with the minimum level of the IPCC interval between 1.5 to 4.5 °C.[5]

The dispute is ongoing.

Selected publications

Veizer, Ján; Hoefs, Jochen, The nature of O-18 /O-16 and C-13 /C-12 secular trends in sedimentary carbonate rocks, 1976, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 40, Issue 11, pp. 1387–1395. Abstract

J Veizer, SL Jansen: Basement and sedimentary recycling and continental evolution. Journal of Geology 87:341–370, 1979

Uwe Brand and Jan Veizer: Chemical diagenesis of a multicomponent carbonate system; 1, Trace elements, Journal of Sedimentary Research; December 1980; v. 50; no. 4; p. 1219-1236.

Jan Veizer, Trace elements and isotopes in sedimentary carbonates, Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry; January 1983; v. 11;1; p. 265-299

Ján Veizer, Davin Alab, Karem Azmy, Peter Bruckschen, Dieter Buhl, Frank Bruhn, Giles A. F. Cardena, Andreas Diener, Stefan Ebneth, Yves Godderis, Torsten Jasper, Christoph Korte, Frank Pawellek, Olaf G. Podlaha, and Harald Strauss, 87Sr/86Sr, 13C and 18O evolution of Phanerozoic seawater. Chem. Geol. 161, 59-88 (1999).

Veizer, J., Godderis, Y. & Francois. L.M., Evidence for decoupling of atmospheric CO2 and global climate during the Phanerozoic eon. Nature 408, 698-701 (2000)

Veizer, J. (2005). Celestial climate driver: a perspective from four billion years of the carbon cycle. Geoscience Canada, 32, 13-28.

Ferguson, P.R. and Veizer, J. (2007). The coupling of water and carbon fluxes via the terrestrial biosphere and its significance to the Earth’s climate system. Journal Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, 112, D24S06, doi:10.1029/2007JD008431.

Korte, C., Jones, P.J., Brand, U., Mertmann, D. and Veizer, J. (2008). Oxygen isotope values from high latitudes: clues for Permian sea-surface temperature gradients and Late Paleozoic deglaciation. Palaeogeography, Paleoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 269, 1-16.

Shaviv, Nir J.; Veizer, Ján (2003), "Celestial driver of Phanerozoic climate?", GSA Today 13 (7): 4–10, doi:10.1130/1052-5173(2003)013<0004:CDOPC>2.0.CO;2, retrieved 2007-04-19 

Scherer K., Fichtner H., Borrmann T., Beer J., Desorgher L., Flükiger E., Fahr H., Ferreira S.E., Langner U.W.,Potgieter M.S. (2006) Interstellar-Terrestrial Relations: Variable Cosmic Environments, The Dynamic Heliosphere, and Their Imprints on Terrestrial Archives and Climate. Space Science Reviews 127(1-4): 327. 2006

See also

  • List of scientists opposing global warming consensus

References

  1. ↑ NSERC - Chairholder Profile
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nir J. Shaviv, Ján Veizer: Celestial driver of Phanerozoic climate, 2003, S. 4–10, Geological Society of America, http://www.gsajournals.org/archive/1052-5173/13/7/pdf/i1052-5173-13-7-4.pdf
  3. ↑ Veizer, Ján; Godderis, Yves; François, Louis M. (2000): Evidence for decoupling of atmospheric CO2 and global climate during the Phanerozoic eon. In: Nature 408, 698-701 (December 2000) doi:10.1038/35047044
  4. ↑ Rahmstorf, Stefan; Archer, David; Ebel, Denton S.; Eugster, Otto; Jouzel, Jean; Maraun, Douglas; Neu, Urs; Schmidt, Gavin A.; Severinghaus, Jeff; Weaver, Andrew J.; Zachos, Jim (2004). "Cosmic rays, carbon dioxide, and climate". Eos (American Geophysical Union) 85 (4): 38–41. Bibcode:2004EOSTr..85...38R. doi:10.1029/2004EO040002. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news71434 Informationsdienst Wissenschaft, Schlagabtausch über die Ursachen des Treibhauseffekts - zurück zur sachlichen Diskussion Dr. Josef König, Pressestelle Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 31 Oct 2003, PIK press release and the answer of Veitzer and Sahviv, Ruhruniversität Bochum

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