Klaus Hasselmann facts for kids

Klaus Ferdinand Hasselmann, born on October 25, 1931, is a German scientist. He studies the ocean and creates mathematical models of the Earth's climate. He used to be a professor at the University of Hamburg. He also directed the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. In 2021, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He shared the award with Syukuro Manabe and Giorgio Parisi.

Hasselmann grew up in Welwyn Garden City, England. He returned to Hamburg, Germany, in 1949 to attend university. During his career, he worked mostly at the University of Hamburg. He also worked at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, which he helped start. He spent five years in the United States as a professor. He taught at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He also taught at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge.

He is famous for creating the Hasselmann model. This model helps explain how the climate changes. It shows how the ocean, which "remembers" things for a long time, reacts to random changes. This turns simple, random signals into more complex, long-lasting ones. This helps explain why we see certain patterns in the climate.

Early Life and Education

Klaus Hasselmann was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1931. His father, Erwin Hasselmann, was a writer and publisher. He was also active in politics. Because of his father's political work, his family moved to the United Kingdom in 1934. They wanted to escape the difficult times in Germany. Klaus grew up in the U.K. from age two. They lived in Welwyn Garden City, near London. His father worked as a journalist there.

The Hasselmanns were not Jewish. However, they lived in a community with many German immigrants. They received help from the English Quakers. Klaus went to school in Welwyn Garden City. He finished his A-levels in 1949. He said he was "very happy in England." English is his first language. His parents went back to Hamburg in 1948. Klaus stayed to finish his studies. In August 1949, he joined his parents in Hamburg. He was almost eighteen. He wanted to go to university there. He studied physics and mathematics at the University of Hamburg starting in 1950.

Klaus Hasselmann married Susanne Barthe, a mathematician, in 1957. They also worked together professionally. His wife was a senior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. They have three children.

Professional Journey and Climate Science

Cover image of the Ph.D. dissertation of Klaus Hasselmann defended in 1957 at the University of Göttingen

Hasselmann earned his degree in physics and mathematics in 1955. This was at the University of Hamburg. He then got his PhD in physics in 1957. He studied at the University of Göttingen. His PhD work was about how waves reflect and bend. This happens when they hit the edge between two different materials. In 1963, he completed his Habilitation in physics. This allowed him to become a full professor.

He worked as a professor at the University of Hamburg. He also taught at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. From 1970 to 1972, he was a professor at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In 1972, he became a Professor of Theoretical Geophysics. He also became the Director of the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Hamburg.

From 1975 to 1999, Hasselmann was the first Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. He also directed the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ). He was a leader in the European Climate Forum for many years. This group was started in 2001.

Understanding Climate Change

Hasselmann has written many important papers. These papers are about how the climate changes. They also cover ocean waves and how we study the Earth from space. He is well-known for his work on ocean waves. He studied how waves interact with each other. He found that other scientists were using similar ideas in physics. This made him interested in how tiny particles behave.

Hasselmann realized that different science fields are connected. He said it was "an eye-opener" to learn from other areas. This made him interested in particle physics. He learned about it by studying real waves.

In climate change, Hasselmann had a new idea. He showed how random weather changes affect the climate. Imagine a heavy ball (the climate) being hit by many small, randomly moving particles (the weather). Even if nothing else changes, the climate will still vary. This is because of the random forces from the weather. Knowing about short-term weather changes helps predict long-term climate changes.

Hasselmann later found a way to spot "fingerprints" of human-caused climate change. It's hard to see the real climate change signal. This is because the climate naturally changes a lot. He developed a method to find this signal. This method helps scientists see the clear signs of human impact.

Both his ideas are very important for climate science. He has received many awards for his work. He won the 2009 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. He also received the Sverdrup Medal in 1971. In 1997, he got the Symons Memorial Medal. In 2002, he was awarded the Vilhelm Bjerknes Medal. In 2021, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. This was for his work on Earth's climate. He helped us understand how the climate changes. He also helped predict global warming.

Hasselmann believes that climate change can be solved. He said that we have the technology to fix it. He thinks we can solve the problem without big changes to our lives.

Mojib Latif was one of his students.

Publications

• M. Welp, K. Hasselmann, C. Jaeger, Climate Change and Paths to Sustainability: the Role of Science- Based Stakeholder Dialogues , The Environment

See also

In Spanish: Klaus Hasselmann para niños