Lorius Wins Balzan Prize

At another ceremony in Bern, Switzerland, this month, the International Balzan Foundation will be presenting four Balzan Prizes, including one for physics-related work.

Claude Lorius, emeritus director of research at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Grenoble, will receive the Balzan Prize 2001 for Climatology for his research on ice. For example, he discovered that the isotopic composition of ice may indicate the temperature at the time of precipitation. He also has demonstrated that it is possible to determine atmospheric pressure at the time of ice formation.

His data, according to the foundation, have “not only played a crucial role in the reconstruction of climate changes over the past millennia, but also helped us understand how close the relation is between climate and the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and how dependent it is on human activities.”

The foundation, which has offices in Zurich, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy, annually awards the prizes in different categories to acknowledge outstanding international achievements in science and the humanities. Beginning this year, prizewinners will be requested to designate half of their prize money for research work to be carried out by, preferably, young researchers.