Hermann Flohn (19 February 1912 – 23 June 1997) was a

climatologist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...

. Flohn was professor at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

and head of the department at the Institute of Meteorology of Bonn University. He produced about 360 publications. Flohn was member in numerous scientific societies such as the Bavarian Academy, the

Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: link=no, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale ...

, the

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (originally the Lyceum of Natural History) was founded in January 1817 as the Lyceum of Natural History. It is the fourth oldest scientific society in the United States. An independent, nonprofit organization wit ...

, and the

Royal Academy of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies s ...

Life

Flohn was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...

, he studied

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

, and

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

at the universities of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

and Innsbruck. Having obtained his doctorate in 1934, he accepted a position at the newly established German Meteorological Service (''Reichswetterdienst''). From 1941 he was employed at the meteorological service of the Luftwaffe High Command. In 1941 Flohn published the first German article concerning anthropogenic

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Having returned to the ''Deutscher Wetterdienst'' after the war, Flohn from 1950 helped develop the theory of

atmospheric circulation Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air and together with ocean circulation is the means by which thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth. The Earth's atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but ...

. Flohn was one of the first and leading global climate change researchers. From 1961 he worked as a lecturer at the

. In 1977 Flohn retired, he died in 1997 in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, aged 85.

Awards

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(''Großes Verdienstkreuz''), 1973 *

International Meteorological Organization Prize The International Meteorological Organization Prize is awarded annually by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for outstanding contributions in the field of meteorology and, since 1971, the field of operational hydrology. The prize, estab ...

, 1986 International Meteorological Organization Prize
/ref> *

Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen) is a civil order of merit, of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded on 11 March 19 ...

, 1993

Selected works

* Flohn H. 1941: ''Die Tätigkeit des Menschen als Klimafaktor.'' Z. f. Erdkunde, 9, 13-22.
''Life on a Warmer Earth--Possible Climatic Consequences of Man-Made Global Warming''
1981.
''Possible Climatic Consequences of a Man-Made Global Warming''
1980. * Flohn H. 1954: ''Witterung und Klima in Mitteleuropa,'' 2. Auflage. Forschungen zur Deutschen Landeskunde, 78, S. Hirzel Verlag, Stuttgart, S. 214. * Flohn H. 1968: ''Contributions to a Meteorology of the Tibetan Highlands.'' In: Atmospheric Science Paper 130, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 120 p. * Flohn H. 1968: ''Le temps et le climat.'' L´Univ. Connaissances, Hachette, Paris. * Flohn H. 1968: ''Clima y tiempo.'' Biblioteca para el Hombre Actual, Ediciones Guadarrama, Madrid. * Flohn H. 1969: ''Climate and Weather.'' World Univ. Library, McGraw-Hill, New York. * Flohn H. 1969: ''Local Wind Systems.'' In: World Survey of Climatology, Vol. 2, General Climatology 2, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 139-171. * Flohn H. 1971: ''Arbeiten zur allgemeinen Klimatologie.'' 315 S. Wiss. Buchges., Darmstadt. * Flohn H., Fantechi R. 1984: ''The Climate of Europe: Past, Present and Future.'' D. Reidel Publ. Comp., Dordrecht. * Flohn H. 1985: ''Das Problem der Klimaänderungen in Vergangenheit und Zukunft.'' Erträge der Forschung, Bd. 220, Wiss. Buchges., Darmstadt. * Flohn H. 1977: ''Climate and Energy: A Scenario to a 21st Century Problem.'' Climatic Change, 1, 5-20 * Flohn H. 1979: ''Climatology as a Geophysical Science.'' Climate Monitor, Special Edition, March 1979, Hubert Lamb - Professor Emeritus, 10-18. (Gewidmet H. Lamb zum 65. Geburtstag) * Flohn H. 1979: ''Summary Review and Some Thoughts on Future Climatic Evolutions.'' In: NES Colleque International: Evolution des Atmosohères Planetaires et Climatologie de la Terre, Nice 16-20 Oct. 1978, 569-574. * Flohn H. 1979: ''Possible Climatic Consequences of a Man-Made Global Warming.'' In:Working Paper, Internat. Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, WP 79-86 (XI + 103 p). (auch in Internat. Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, RR-80-30, Dec. 1980) * Flohn H. 1980: ''Man's Increasing Impact on Climate: Atmospheric Processes.'' In: N. Polunin (Ed.): Growth without ecodisaster? Proc. 2nd Intern. Conf. Environmental Future. Reykjavik, June 1977, MacMillan Press, London, 31-44. (Diskussion 45-59) * Flohn H. 1980: ''Possible Climatic Consequences of a Man-made Global Warming.'' In: R. Kavanagh (Ed.): Energy System Analysis. Proc. Intern. Conf. Dublin, 9-11 Oct. 1979, D. Reidel Publ. Comp., Dordrecht, 558-568. (1981: ''Life on a Warmer Earth, Possible Climatic Consequences of Man-made Global Warming.'' Executive Report 3, based on research by H. Flohn, Intern. Inst. for Applied System Analysis IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria, pp. 59.)

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20040921064201/http://www.meteo.uni-bonn.de/deutsch/mflohn/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Flohn, Hermann 1912 births 1997 deaths Academic staff of the University of Bonn Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Cothenius Medal