Akio Arakawa

Akio Arakawa (born 1927[1]) is a Japanese-born American climate scientist.[2][3][4] He is currently an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.[5]

Early life and achievements

Arakawa was the youngest of three sons. Living through World War II in Japan, he recalled his two older brothers served in the Japanese military without incident, while he was drafted to work as a fireman part-time while finishing high school.[1] He entered the University of Tokyo in 1947, and spent three years majoring in physics. After graduating in 1950, he applied for one of the few jobs available for physics graduates, with the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency stationed him on a weather ship to gain experience, and after working in that area for a year and a half, he sought another role in the agency, and was able to gain a position in the forecast research division.[1]

In the 1950s, Arakawa developed mathematics that "permitted the use of a coarser grid" to reduce the computational time needed to estimate climate changes from air sampling data. During this time, Arakawa consulted on the early Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) weather model, later taken up and further advanced by meteorologist Dr. James Hansen.[6]

Recognition and later life

In 1977, Arakawa was awarded the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, the highest award in the field of atmospheric science, from the American Meteorological Society, for his work on "mathematical models of the atmosphere and in numerical methods of weather prediction".[7] In 2010, he received the Vilhelm Bjerknes Medal from the European Geosciences Union.[8] In 2018, Arakawa predicted a global warming-related temperature rise over the next century of two degrees, which is slightly lower than the three degree rise predicted using Jule Charney's 1981 model, and the four degree rise predicted by Hansen.[9]

gollark: It would give it a great modern look.
gollark: Yes, that is what I said.
gollark: White concrete. Or glass.
gollark: I mean, loads of major buildings have been made with it, so it would be extremely triskaidecagonal if they banned it *now*.
gollark: You should re-ask.

References
  1. "Akio Arakawa - Session I". www.aip.org. 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  2. Philander, S. George (2012-06-13). Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change, Second Edition. SAGE Publications. p. 68. ISBN 9781506320755.
  3. Randall, David A. (2000-07-19). General Circulation Model Development: Past, Present, and Future. Elsevier. pp. xxxi. ISBN 9780080507231.
  4. Gramelsberger, Gabriele; Feichter, Johann (2011-03-30). Climate Change and Policy: The Calculability of Climate Change and the Challenge of Uncertainty. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 34. ISBN 9783642177002.
  5. "Akio Arakawa | Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences". atmos.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  6. Mark Bowen, Censoring Science: Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming, Plume, 2007, p. 221.
  7. "Research Medal Awarded", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, 3 July 1977, p. 6.
  8. "Akio Arakawa". European Geosciences Union (EGU). Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  9. Frammery, Catherine (August 24, 2018). "Comment nous avons perdu le combat contre le changement climatique". Le Temps.
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