Research Interests:
Atmospheric chemistry and transport in the stratosphere and troposphere; climate change and its coupling to chemistry; comparative studies of environment and society.

Biographical Statement:
Introducing Professor Solomon (Video Clip)

Susan Solomon is widely recognized as a leader in the field of atmospheric science. She is well known for having pioneered the theory explaining why the ozone hole occurs in Antarctica, and obtaining some of the first chemical measurements that helped to establish the chlorofluorocarbons as its cause. She is also the author of several influential scientific papers in climate science, including one on the irreversibility of the climate change problem, and a popular book on Antarctic history, The Coldest March [selected among '2001 Books of the Year' lists of the New York Times, the Economist (UK), and the Independent (UK)]. Among her many awards, she received the 1999 National Medal of Science (the highest scientific honor in the US), as well as the Grande Medaille (the highest award of the French Academy of Sciences) and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society, and the Acadameia Europaea. She also co-led Working Group I of the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and is the author of several books. Time magazine named Solomon as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008.

Selected Publications:

Santer, B.D., C. Bonfils, J.F. Painter, M.D. Zelinka, C. Mears, S. Solomon, et al., 2014: Volcanic contribution to decadal changes in tropospheric temperature, Nature Geoscience, 7: 185-189

Emanuel, K., S. Solomon, D. Folini, S. Davis, C. Cagnazzo, 2013: Influence of Tropical Tropopause Layer Cooling on Atlantic Hurricane Activity, J. Climate, 26, 2288–2301.
Santer, B.D., C. Mears, C. Doutriaux, P.J. Gleckler, S. Solomon, et al., 2011: Separating signal and noise in atmospheric temperature changes: The importance of timescale,  Journal of Geophysical Research, 116: D22105.

Thompson, D.W., S. Solomon, P.J. Kushner, et al., 2011: The Antarctic ozone hole and Southern Hemisphere climate change,  Nature Geoscience, 4: 741-749.

Solomon, S., J.S. Daniel, T.J. Sanford, et al., 2010: Persistence of climate changes due to a range of greenhouse gases, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 107: 18354-18359.

Solomon S., G.-K. Platter, R. Knutti, et al., 2009: Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 106: 1704-1709.

Solomon, S., 2002:  The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition,  New Haven, CT, Yale University Press.