Paul Crutzen, Nobel Laureate Who Fought Climate Change, Dies at 87
By John Schwartz, 2/4/21, New York Times

a Dutch scientist who earned a Nobel Prize for work that
warned the world about the threat of chemicals to the
planets ozone layer and who went on to push for action
against global warming, died on Jan. 28 in Mainz, Germany.
He was 87.

The Max Planck Inst for Chemistry in Mainz announced the death,
in a hospital, but did not state the cause. Susanne Benner, a
spokeswoman for the institute, said Dr. Crutzen had been
treated for Parkinsons disease.

Martin Stratmann, the president of the Max Planck Society,
said in a statement that Dr. Crutzens work had led to the ban
on ozone-depleting chemicals, €œa hitherto unique example of
how Nobel Prize-winning basic research can directly lead to
a global political decision.€�

Dr. Crutzen popularized the term €œAnthropocene€� to describe
Earths current geological era. The name, which he proposed
in 2000 but which others had brought up in the same or slightly
different spelling, suggests that we now live on a planet shaped
by humanity.

The term €œcontinues to teach us that our collective human
activities are now the most powerful geological force on Earth,€�
Al Gore, the climate activist & former VP, said by email, €œand
his lifes work continues to inspire us to take responsibility
for how that force affects our planets ecological integrity.€�

Dr. Crutzen shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with
F. Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina. He found in 1970 that
certain chemicals could break down ozone, a molecule that, high
up in the stratosphere, absorbs dangerous ultraviolet radiation
from the sun. Four years later, Dr. Rowland and Dr. Molina were
able to show that gases known as chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs,
could break down in the upper atmosphere & attack the ozone layer.

After years of skepticism & pushback from industry, British
scientists in 1985 discovered a hole in the ozone layer, leading
to the landmark int'l treaty known as the 1987 Montreal Protocol
& a ban on production of CFCs. (Those chemicals would later be
shown to contribute powerfully to global warming, and the ban
kept climate change from being even worse than it is today.)

The 1995 Nobel citation said the 3 scientists had €œcontributed
to our salvation from a global environmental problem that could
have catastrophic consequences.€�

The NY Times wrote in 1995 that Dr. Crutzen was €œknown among
his colleagues as a nonconformist who shows up in an open shirt
& sandals at conferences where everyone else is in formal attire.€�

€œInstead of delivering formal papers at scientific meetings,€�
the Times article continued, €œhe fumbles a few handwritten
notes, then ends up mesmerizing his audiences.€�

Paul Jozef Crutzen was born on Dec. 3, 1933, in Amsterdam to
Jozef and Anna (Gurk) Crutzen. His father was a waiter, and
his mother worked in the kitchen of a hospital.

In an autobiographical essay on the Nobel website, Dr. Crutzen
recalled profound privation during the Nazi occupation & the
€œhongerwinter,€� or winter of famine, in 1944-45. €œMany died of
hunger & disease,€� he wrote, €œincluding several of my schoolmates.€�

His path to atmospheric chemistry was indirect; he first set
out, in 1951, to train as a civil engineer in a 3-year program
at a technical school so that he could save his parents the
expense of college programs that might take 4 years or more.
His father, he said, was frequently unemployed.

From 1954 until 1958, in addition to serving in the military,
Dr. Crutzen worked in Amsterdams bridge construction bureau.
During that time, as he recalled, he also met €œa sweet girl,€�
Terttu Soininen.

€œA few years later I was able to entice her to marry me,€�
he wrote. €œWhat a great choice I made!€�

His wife survives him, as do their two daughters, Sylvia &
Ilona Crutzen, & 3 grandchildren.

In 1958, Crutzen saw an advert in a Swedish newspaper for a
job programming computers in the department of meteorology
at what is now Stockholm University. €œAlthough I had not the
slightest experience in this subject,€� he wrote, €œI applied
for the job and had the great luck to be chosen from among
many candidates.€�

At the meteorology institute, he began studies that would
lead to his receiving, in 1963, the equivalent of a master
of science degree that combined mathematics, statistics and
meteorology. That was followed by a Ph.D. in meteorology in
1968 and a doctorate of philosophy, the most advanced degree
in the Swedish system, in 1973.

In choosing a specific topic of research, he said, €œI picked

stratospheric ozone as my subject, without the slightest
anticipation of what lay ahead.€�

He later served as director of research at the National Center
for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., from 1977 to 1980,
and at the Max Planck Institute from 1980 until 2000.

In a 2002 article in the journal Nature, Dr. Crutzen wrote of
the increasing threat of climate change. A €œdaunting task,€�
he said, €œlies ahead for scientists and engineers to guide
society towards environmentally sustainable management during
the era of the Anthropocene.€�

In that essay & elsewhere, he raised the prospect of employing

geoengineering, the field that looks for ways to combat climate
change thru interventions like spreading sulfur in the atmosphere
to help cool the planet. The idea of geoengineering remains
controversial, not only because of potential unanticipated
side effects, but also because of the suspicion that the
technologies could be used to postpone action on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.

Later, in an interview for a 2014 virtual exhibition on the
Anthropocene, Dr. Crutzen said, €œI share that fear,€� adding
that using the technology to avoid acting on emissions €œwould
be totally wrong,€� and that he doubted it would ever be used.

In that same interview, the journalist Christian Schwägerl
asked, €œHave you remained an optimist?€�

Dr. Crutzen replied, €œDid I say I am an optimist?€�

Mr. Schwägerl then asked what made him feel optimistic, and
the reply was less curt. There were the €œbeautiful things
around us like arts and literature,€� Dr. Crutzen said. €œThere
are so many beautiful things humankind is creating that I
wonder when we will make Earth more beautiful again instead
of depleting everything.€�

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/s...tzen-dead.html