Joseph Charles Farman

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(7 August 1930 – 11 May 2013) was a British

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

who worked for the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...

. Together with Brian Gardiner and

Jon Shanklin Jonathan Shanklin (born 29 September 1953) is a meteorologist who has worked at the British Antarctic Survey since 1977. Together with Joe Farman and Brian G. Gardiner he discovered the "Ozone Hole" in the 1980s. Shanklin has described his r ...

, he published the discovery of the

ozone hole Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a lowered total amount of ozone in Earth, Earth's upper atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone layer) around Earth's polar ...

over

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, having used Dobson ozone spectrophotometers. Their results were first published in May 1985.

Early life

Farman was born in Norwich. His father was a builder, and his mother was a primary school teacher, and he had a sister eight years older than himself.

Education and career

He was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a private selective day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as an episcop ...

, where he was a prefect in Coke House, and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where he gained an undergraduate degree in

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

. After graduation, Farman worked with

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

, an aircraft manufacturer. In 1956, he responded to an advert for a job for a physicist to work in Antarctica. He was appointed to this role, and joined the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, which later became the

. Farman worked for the British Antarctic Survey until 1990, when he retired. Farman began work at the

Halley research station Halley Research Station is a research facility in Antarctica on the Brunt Ice Shelf operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The base was established in 1956 to study the Earth's atmosphere. Measurements from Halley led to the discovery ...

on the

Brunt Ice Shelf The Brunt Ice Shelf borders the Antarctic coast of Coats Land between Dawson-Lambton Glacier and Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee after David Brunt, British meteorologist, Physical Secreta ...

in Antarctica in 1957, where he deployed instruments for making atmospheric measurements including a Dobson meter, for measuring

ozone Ozone () (or trioxygen) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , break ...

. In early 1982, Farman noticed that the 25-year old instrument began to show dips in recorded ozone levels. In October 1982, the ozone values fell to remarkably low levels. Once Farman and colleagues were confident that the measurements were correct, they published their observations in the journal ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

''; this was the first evidence for the presence of a seasonal ozone 'hole' over Antarctica, caused by chemical reactions of manmade

halocarbons Halocarbon compounds are chemical compounds in which one or more carbon atoms are linked by covalent bonds with one or more halogen atoms (fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine – ) resulting in the formation of organofluorine compounds, orga ...

with stratospheric ozone during the Antarctic spring.

Awards

He received numerous honours for his discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, including the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

(SCI) Environment Medal, the

Chree Medal and Prize The Edward Appleton Medal and Prize is awarded by the Institute of Physics for distinguished research in environmental physics, environmental, earth physics, earth or atmospheric physics. Originally named after Charles Chree, the British physici ...

, membership of the

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNE ...

, and a

in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

. For his critical contribution to saving the ozone layer, Farman was a winner of the 2021 Future of Life Award along with Stephen O. Andersen and Susan Solomon. Dr. Jim Hansen, former director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and director of Columbia University's Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions said, "In Farman, Solomon and Andersen we see the tremendous impact individuals can have not only on the course of human history, but on the course of our planet's history. My hope is that others like them will emerge in today's battle against climate change." Professor Brian Greene of Columbia University added, "the 2021 Future of Life award winners show how science can work for the betterment of humanity."

Family

In 1971, Farman married Paula Bowyer. They moved to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1976.

References

External links

Joe Farman on the discovery of the ozone hole

Listen to an oral history interview with Joseph Farman
- a life story interview recorded fo
An Oral History of British Science
at the British Library
Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 11 October 1999, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- Session I
Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 12 October 1999, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- Session II
Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 16 March 2009, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 16 March 2009 (as part of the Cambridge Seminar Group Session), American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farman, Joe 1930 births 2013 deaths People from Norwich British geophysicists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Norwich School Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Oral History of British Science