Paul J. Crutzen (* December 3, 1933) is a Dutch nobel prize winning atmospheric chemist.

Paul Crutzen is best known for his research on ozone depletion. He lists his main research interests as Stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry, and their role in the biogeochemical cycles and climate [1]. He currently works at the Department of Atmospheric Chemistry at the MPI for Chemistry [2], in Mainz, Germany.

Awards

This is a partial list. See [3] for more.

• 1976: Outstanding Publication Award, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.
• 1984: Rolex-Discover Scientist of the Year.
• 1985: Recipient of the Leo Szilard Award for "Physics in the Publics Interest" of the American Physical Society.
• 1986: Elected to Fellow of the American Geophysical Union
• 1989: Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
• 1991: Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences;
• 1995: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Dr. M. Molina and Dr. F. S. Rowland, U.S.A.)
• 1995: Recipient of the Global Ozone Award for "Outstanding Contribution for the Protection of the Ozone Layer" by United Nations Environment Programme.
• 1996: Honorary Member of the International Ozone Commission
• 1999: Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• 2002: Worldwide most cited author in the Geosciences with 2911 citations from 110 publications during the decade 1991-2001, Institute for Scientific Information

Anthropocene

In 2000, in IGBP Newsletter 41, Crutzen and Eugene F. Stoermer , to emphasize the central role of mankind in geology and ecology, proposed using the term anthropocene for the current geological epoch. In regard to its start, they said:

To assign a more specific date to the onset of the 'anthropocene" seems somewhat arbitrary, but we propose the latter part of the 18th century, although we are aware that alternative proposals can be made (some may even want to include the entire holocene). However, we choose this date because, during the past two centuries, the global effects of human activities have become clearly noticeable. This is the period when data retrieved from glacial ice cores show the beginning of a growth in the atmospheric concentrations of several 'greenhouse gases", in particular C02 and CH4. Such a starting date also coincides with James Watt's invention of the steam engine in 1784. [4]

External links

• His home page
• Autobiography from nobelprize.org