Broecker to receive 2006 Crafoord prize

Wallace S. Broecker‘s pioneering study of the global carbon cycle and his development of a theory of large-scale ocean currents have earned him the Crafoord Prize in Geosciences for 2006, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Broecker, the Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, where he also is a senior research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, was selected “for his innovative and pioneering research on the operation of the global carbon cycle within the ocean-atmosphere-biosphere system, and its interaction with climate,” the award citation said.

Every year the Crafoord Prize, which carries a purse of $500 000, recognizes someone in one of the fields of astronomy and mathematics, biosciences, geosciences, or polyarthritis research. The prize-awarding ceremony will be held this month in Lund.

The academy, which also bestows the Nobel Prizes annually, said Broecker’s most important contribution to knowledge about the interaction between the atmosphere, the oceans, ice, and living organisms has been his study of the global carbon cycle. It noted that 35 years ago, Broecker developed an important flow model based on the interaction of land, atmosphere, and the oceans that boosted understanding of the link between carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and the oceans’ chemistry.

The academy said Broecker also played an important role in developing the theory of large-scale ocean currents and matching it with the interactive Earth system. He was ahead of his time in the 1960s when he linked rapid climate changes during the last glacial cycle with changes in global ocean circulation patterns, the academy said.