Mojib Latif (born 29 September 1954) is a German

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

and

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

of Pakistani descent. Latif graduated with a

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from ) is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

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 ...

in 1983. He took a position as scientist at the

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (''Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie''; MPI-M) is an internationally renowned institute for climate research. Its mission is to understand Earth's changing climate. Founded in 1975, it is affiliated w ...

in 1985. In 1987 he earned a Ph.D. in

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...

from the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. In 2003 he became professor at IFM-GEOMAR,

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, the

Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences The GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), formerly known as the ''Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences'' (German language, German: ''Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften'', IFM-GEOMAR), is a research institute in Kiel ...

. Latif is a regular guest at TV discussions about

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 ...

Academic career

From 1974 to 1976, Latif studied

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

, administration,

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

at the

. Latif graduated in meteorology and completed his Ph.D. in 1987, under

Klaus Hasselmann Klaus Ferdinand Hasselmann (; born 25 October 1931) is a German oceanographer and climate mathematical model, modeller. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Hamburg and former Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. He wa ...

in oceanography. His thesis was titled ''Model Theoretical Investigation of the Low-Frequency Variability of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Circulation''. In 2008 Latif was joint author of a modelling study in ''

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 ...

'' whose results suggested "

global surface temperature Global surface temperature (GST) is the average temperature of Earth's surface. More precisely, it is the weighted average of the temperatures over the ocean and land. The former is also called sea surface temperature and the latter is called ...

may not increase over the next decade, as natural climate variations in the North Atlantic and tropical Pacific temporarily offset the projected anthropogenic warming." According to this study, global surface temperatures from 2005 to 2015 could be only slightly warmer than the 2000 to 2010 period. In the period from 2010 to 2020, surface temperature were expected to rise again. This study concluded that new heat records were not in prospect until the decade 2010 to 2020. At the UN's World Climate Conference 2009 in Geneva Latif gave a talk about prediction that used, amongst other material, results from this paper. ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' reported about Latif's research that "we could be about to enter one or even two decades of cooler temperatures". This interpretation has been stated as incorrect in an interview with Latif, after being asked whether he was a “ global warming sceptic”, he explained that "If my name was not Mojib Latif, my name would be global warming. So I really believe in Global Warming. Okay. However, you know, we have to accept that there are these natural fluctuations, and therefore, the temperature may not show additional warming temporarily." In 2000, he gave an interview to the German journal ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' where he said "Winter with strong frost and a lot of snow, as happened 20 years ago, will no longer exist in our region."

Awards

* 2000 Sverdrup Gold Medal Award * 2015

German Environmental Prize The German Environmental Prize () is a government-sponsored award for protecting the environment. Worth Euro, €500,000, it is one of the most valuable environmental awards in Europe. The sponsor German Federal Environmental Foundation (, DBU) i ...

* 2016 Order of Merit of Schleswig-Holstein * 2023 Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Memberships

* 2007 Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg

Selected publications

* * *

Personal life

Latif's father, Chaudhry Abdul Latif, migrated to Germany from Pakistan. He was an imam and one of the founders of Hamburg's

Ahmadi Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

-affiliated Fazle Omar Mosque in 1957. Latif is married to Norwegian-born Elisabeth Latif.

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people German meteorologists German oceanographers Pakistani meteorologists Pakistani oceanographers German people of Pakistani descent University of Hamburg alumni Naturalized citizens of Germany Sverdrup Gold Medal Award Recipients Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-scientist-stub