Mike Lockwood (physicist) facts for kids
Michael Lockwood is a smart scientist who studies space and the Earth's environment. He is a Professor of Space Environment Physics at the University of Reading in the UK. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very important group for scientists.
About Michael Lockwood
Michael Lockwood went to school at The Skinners' School. He studied at the University of Exeter, earning his first degree in 1975 and his PhD in 1978.
He has worked at several famous places. These include the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, University of Southampton, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. He also worked at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
His research is all about space and how it affects Earth. He studies changes in the Sun's magnetic fields. He also looks at space between planets and the Earth's own magnetic field. He is very interested in how the Sun influences our planet's climate.
Michael Lockwood has also helped lead important science groups. He was the Chair of the Council for EISCAT. This group uses radar to study the upper atmosphere. He was also on the Council for the British Natural Environment Research Council.
He gave special talks for a course called The Sun, Solar Analogs and the Climate. These talks were later put into a book in 2006. Other experts like Joanna Haigh also contributed to this book.
Outside of science, Michael Lockwood enjoys playing sports and music. He played football when he was a student. He also plays guitar in a band called Dumber than Chickens.
The Sun and Earth's Climate
In 2007, Michael Lockwood wrote a science paper about data from the Sun. This paper looked at information from the past 40 years. He was curious about how the Sun affects climate change.
He found something interesting about the Sun's activity. Between 1985 and 1987, many solar factors changed direction. He explained that it was like they did a "U-turn."
Lockwood believes that human activities have a bigger effect on climate. He thinks the Sun's influence is not as big. He said that if the Sun were the main cause, the Earth should have cooled after 1987. But it didn't.
However, he also explains that the Sun can affect climate in smaller ways. It might change weather in certain places or seasons. For example, the Sun could affect the jet stream in winter. This might lead to more cold winters in Europe.
He also thinks that the Sun could become less active in the next 50 to 100 years. This period of low activity is called a Maunder Minimum. If this happens, it could mean more cold winters in places like the UK and Europe. But other places, like Greenland, might have warmer winters at the same time.
In 2012, Lockwood talked about how science can be used in discussions. He noted that some people might use ideas about the Sun's effects. They might use these ideas to avoid taking action on climate change caused by humans. He stressed the importance of clear and accurate science.
Awards
Michael Lockwood has received many important awards for his work:
- 1990 The Zel'dovich Award. This was for his work on the ionosphere.
- 1990 The Issac Koga Gold Medal.
- 1998 The Chapman Medal. This award is from the Royal Astronomical Society in London.
- 2003 The Charles Chree (now Appleton) Award and Prize. This is from the Institute of Physics.
- 2006 He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
- 2012 The Julius Bartels Medal. This is from the European Geosciences Union.
- 2015 The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for Geophysics.
