UA Global Sustainability Series Features Alabama Climatologist John Christy

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. John R. Christy, Alabama’s state climatologist and winner of NASA’s Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, will present his lecture, “Global Warming: By the Numbers,” Feb.26 at 7:30 p.m. in room 127 of the Biology Building on The University of Alabama campus.

Christy’s lecture is the fourth in the Alabama Perspectives on Sustainability and Climate Change lecture series, sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, its department of physics and astronomy, and its New College program. Details about future lectures will be posted on the lecture series’ Web site, http://www.as.ua.edu/apsacc.

Christy, who also is the director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, has been involved in building long-term datasets to help document and explain what the climate is doing. Christy has said that, thus far, his research has not been able to substantiate the catastrophic rates of change that have been propagated by other scientists.

In this lecture, Christy will discuss the implications of these datasets for climate projections. Christy also will talk about the impact of his expert testimonials in federal court about the possible effects of certain litigation on climate changes. Christy recently testified before the U.S. House and Senate committees on these issues.

Christy, who has been at UAH since 1987, was appointed by former Gov. Don Siegelman to be Alabama’s state climatologist in November of 2000. Christy and UAH principal research scientist, Dr. Roy W. Spencer, were awarded NASA’s Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1991 for the development of a global temperature data set from microwave data observed from satellites starting in 1979.

In 1996, they were selected to receive a Special Award by the American Meteorological Society “for developing a global, precise record of earth’s temperature from operational polar-orbiting satellites, fundamentally advancing our ability to monitor climate,” according to the society. In January 2002, Christy was inducted as a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society.

Christy has served as a contributor and lead author for the U.N. reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. His research has been published in journals: Science, Nature, Journal of Climate and Journal of Geophysical Research. Additionally, Christy was featured in the February 2001 issue of Discover for his scientific accomplishments.

Christy received his master’s and doctoral degrees in atmospheric sciences from the University of Illinois in 1984 and 1987, respectively. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from California State University in Fresno in 1973. He taught physics and chemistry as a missionary teacher in Nyeri, Kenya, for two years. He earned a master of divinity degree from Golden Gate Baptist Seminary in 1978, after which he served four years as a mission-pastor in Vermillion, S.D., where he taught college math.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.