Kerry Andrew Emanuel (born April 21, 1955) is an American professor of

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

currently working at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

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 particular he has specialized in atmospheric

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

and the mechanisms acting to intensify

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

Research

He hypothesized in 1994 about a superpowerful type of hurricane which could be formed if average

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...

increased another 15C more than it's ever been (see " hypercane"). In a March 2008 paper published in the ''

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * ''Bulletin'' (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin De ...

'', he put forward the conclusion that

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

is likely to increase the intensity but decrease the frequency of hurricane and cyclone activity. Gabriel Vecchi, of

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...

said of Emanuel's announcement, "While his results don't rule out the possibility that global warming has contributed to the recent increase in activity in the Atlantic, they suggest that other factors—possibly in addition to global warming—are likely to have been substantial contributors to the observed increase in activity."

Lorenz Center

Along with Daniel Rothman, Emanuel co-founded the MIT Lorenz Center in 2011, named for Edward N. Lorenz.

2012 threats

In 2012, Emanuel served as keynote speaker for a conference for Republican voters concerned about climate change. Following the conference, the blog Climate Depot posted Emanuel's email address. After the conference and the exposure of Emanuel's email address on blogs, Emanuel received a large volume of emails "laced with menacing language, expletives, and personal threats of violence," according to editor James West of '' Mother Jones''.

Nuclear power views

In 2013, with other leading experts, he was co-author of an open letter to policy makers, which stated that "continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity's ability to avoid dangerous climate change."

Recognition

He was named one of the ''Time'' 100 influential people of 2006. In 2007, he was elected as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He was elected a Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2019. He was elected a

Foreign Member of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 2020.

References

Selected publications

*Emanuel, K.A.(1994): ''Atmospheric Convection,'' Oxford University Press. *Emanuel, K.A.(2005): ''Divine Wind: The History And Science Of Hurricanes,'' *Emanuel, K.A.(2005)
"Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years"
''

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 ...

'' *Emanuel, K.A.(2007)
''Phaeton’s Reins - The human hand in climate change''
''

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

''. *Emanuel, K.A.(2007): ''What We Know About Climate Change,'' The MIT Press & Boston Review. *Emanuel, K.A.(2008)
"Hurricanes and Global Warming: Results from Downscaling IPCC AR4 Simulations"
''

External links

Emanuel's website
* *Brian Tang and Kerry Emanuel (2010)
"Mid-level ventilation's constraint on tropical cyclone intensity"
Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, Volume 67, Issue 6 . *Brian Tang and Kerry Emanuel (2012)
"A ventilation index for tropical cyclones"

, Volume 93, Issue 12. {{DEFAULTSORT:Emanuel, Kerry 1955 births Living people Educators from Cambridge, Massachusetts Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni American meteorologists Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal recipients Members of the American Philosophical Society Fellows of the American Meteorological Society Foreign members of the Royal Society Paleotempestology