Will Steffen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Will Steffen
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Steffen in 2010
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William Lee Steffen
25 June 1947 Norfolk, Nebraska, U.S.
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| Died | 29 January 2023 (aged 75) Canberra, Australia
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| Spouse(s) | Carrie Steffen |
| Children | 1 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Climate science |
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William Lee Steffen (born June 25, 1947 – died January 29, 2023) was an American-born Australian scientist. He was a very important expert in climate science. He led the Climate Change Institute at the Australian National University (ANU). He was also a key member of the Australian Climate Commission.
From 1998 to 2004, he was the leader of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. This group helped countries work together on environmental changes. After the Climate Commission was closed, Steffen helped start the Climate Council. He often wrote reports and spoke to the media about climate change and renewable energy.
Contents
Who was Will Steffen?
Early Life and Education
Will Steffen was born in Norfolk, Nebraska in the United States on June 25, 1947. He studied chemistry at the University of Missouri, finishing in 1970. Later, he earned two more degrees from the University of Florida. He received a master's degree in education in 1972. Then, he got his PhD in chemistry in 1975.
His Work in Climate Science
Will Steffen wrote many articles about climate science. He was very interested in climate change and how the Earth's systems work. He focused on how we can live in a way that protects the planet for the future. He studied how we use land and how human actions affect the Earth. He also looked at the past and future of how people interact with nature.
Steffen was well-known for talking about the idea of the Anthropocene. This is a proposed new time period where human activities have a major impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems. He worked with other scientists like Paul Crutzen on this idea. He also helped start a global discussion about "planetary boundaries". These are limits that humanity should not cross to keep the Earth safe. In 2018, he wrote about the idea of a "Hothouse Earth," which means the climate could change in ways we can't control. This caused a lot of scientific discussion.
Working with Governments and Councils
Steffen gave advice to the Australian government on climate issues. He was a science adviser for the Department of Climate Change. He also worked with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. He was part of the Prime Minister's Science Council. He also advised a group in Colorado, USA, called the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
He was on the Science Advisory Committee for the APEC Climate Centre in Korea. He was also a visiting researcher in Sweden. He led the Australian Government's Antarctic Science Advisory Committee. He gave expert advice to the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.
In 2011, he was the main writer of a government report called The Critical Decade. This report suggested that a tax should be put on carbon pollution.
The Climate Council
In 2013, the Australian Climate Commission was closed down by the government. Will Steffen said they were one of the first things the new government got rid of.
After this, Steffen and other dismissed members, like Professor Tim Flannery, started a new group. This new group was called the Climate Council. They raised over $1 million from people in just one week. This was Australia's biggest crowdfunding effort at the time. Steffen continued to be a climate councillor with this new independent group.
In 2018, he helped write an important report for the IPCC. This report was about keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
His Final Years
Will Steffen passed away from pancreatic cancer in Canberra, Australia, on January 29, 2023. He was 75 years old. He was married to Carrie for 51 years, and they had a daughter named Sonja.
Key Publications
Will Steffen wrote or co-wrote many important scientific papers. Here are a few examples:
- Waters, Colin N., et al. (2016) The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. In: Science 351, No. 6269 .
- Steffen W et al., (2015) Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet. In: Science 349, No. 6254, pp. 1286–1287, .
- Steffen W, Grinevald J, Crutzen P and McNeill J (2011) ["The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives"] Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 369(1938): 842–867.
- Steffen W (ed.) (2010) ["Australia's Biodiversity and Climate Change"] Csiro Publishing. ISBN: 978-0-643-09605-9.
- Zalasiewicz J, Williams M, Steffen W and Crutzen P (2010) ["The new world of the Anthropocene"] Environmental Science & Technology, 44(7): 2228–2231.
- Steffen W (2008) ["Looking Back to the Future"] Ambio, 37(14): 507–513.
- Robin L and Steffen W (2007) ["History for the Anthropocene"] History Compass, 5(5): 1694–1719.
- Costanza R, Graumlich L and Steffen W (eds) (2007) ["Integrated History and Future of People on Earth"] MIT Press. ISBN: 978-0-262-03366-4.
- Steffen, W (2005) ["Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet Under Pressure"] Birkhäuser. ISBN: 978-3-540-26594-8.
- Gordon LJ, Steffen W, Jönsson BF, Folke C, Falkenmark M and Johannessen Å (2005) ["Human modification of global water vapor flows from the land surface"] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), 102: 7612–7617.
- Steffen W, Andreae MO, Bolin B, Cox P, Crutzen PJ, Cubasch U, Nakicenovic N, Talaue-McManus L and Turner II BL (2004) ["Group Report: Earth system dynamics in the Anthropocene"] In: Schellnhuber H-J, Earth system analysis for sustainability, pages 313–340, MIT Press, ISBN: 978-0-262-19513-3.
- Steffen W and Lambin E (2004) ["Earth System Functioning in the Anthropocene: Human Impacts on the Global Environment"] Pages 112–144 in: Interactions between global change and human health, Working group 2004, Pontificiae Academiae Scientiarum, Scripta Varia 106. ISBN: 978-88-7761-085-0.
- Crutzen P and Steffen W (2003) ["How Long Have We Been in the Anthropocene Era?"] Climatic Change, Editorial Comment.61(3): 251–257.
