Today, the effects of human-induced climate change and rising sea levels are widely accepted phenomena.
However, that was not always the case. We look at three scientists who sparked the conversation about these environmental issues.
Though they sadly passed away in 2024, these pioneers each expanded the field of climate science, leaving a legacy that continues to shape knowledge today.
Dr. Warren Washington’s Barriers in Science
In the early 1960s, atmospheric scientists observed the repercussions of climate change, but the research behind it was foundational.
This concerned Warren Washington, the second African American in the United States to receive his Ph.D. in meteorology. While working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), he collaborated with, Akira Kasahara, to determine the leading causes of climate change.
They developed a computer model that represented how human-induced actions like solar output and methane and carbon dioxide emissions contributed to climate change. Dr. Washington advised U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush on the threat of climate change, guiding policy recommendations. Because of his lifetime of contributions to the field of climate science, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Throughout his life, he inspired and mentored the Black community by visiting historically black colleges and integrating programs at the American Meteorological Society to increase diversity. He passed at 88, leaving a legacy that broke barriers in science for African Americans and expanded the field of climate science.
Dr. George Woodwell: A Leader and Advocate in Ecology
At a time when nuclear and DDT atmospheric testing was a leading factor in climate disruption in the 1960s and 70s, Dr. George Woodwell was central in advancing policy to end it.
After completing his bachelor's degree at Dartmouth College and earning his Ph.D in botany at Duke University in 1958, Woodwell authored groundbreaking articles published in journals like the Scientific American detailing the harm these chemicals caused in animal food webs. His research was later attributed to the federal ban on the use of DDT in 1972.
The same year, Dr. Woodwell organized the first international conference in Long Island, attended by other notable scientists, to discuss ways to mitigate climate change. He was later selected by President Jimmy Carter to present the ecological effects created by climate change.
Today, the Woodwell Research Center, founded by Dr. Woodwell, is a think tank that shapes public policy in climate change and ecological studies. The research center personifies Dr. Woodwell’s accomplishments in ecology and continues to shape climate advocacy.
Dr. Orrin H. Pilkey’s Conservation of Beaches
When Hurricane Camille demolished his family home in Waveland, Mississippi, geologist Orrin H. Pilkey, became passionate about the dangers of building establishments near beaches. As a geology professor at Duke University, Dr. Pilkey educated others on how heavy beach infrastructure contributes to rising sea levels and erosion.
He became a pivotal leader in advocating for policy by lobbying to move the North Carolinian Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the Outer Banks when it threatened erosion. It was successfully moved 2,900 feet in 1999 and today is a major tourist attraction; its preservation is attributed mainly to Dr. Pilkey’s activism, and he earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Carolina Coastal Force in 2008 for his work.
He continued his advocacy efforts by co-authoring 49 books for adults and children about the effects of climate change up until his death at 90 years old in the summer of 2024. His mentorship of students, research, and scientific activism inspired a generation of people and will forever be remembered.
Sources: NY Times, wpsu.org, psu.edu, eenews.net, nps.gov
