earth science

Richard Somerville

Richard Somerville is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard Somerville rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Chapin James Somerville is an American climate scientist who is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been a professor since 1979. Early life He received a B.

Key takeaways

Richard Somerville belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard Somerville to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard Somerville from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard Chapin James Somerville is an American climate scientist who is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been a professor since 1979.

Early life He received a B. S. in meteorology from Pennsylvania State University in 1961 and a Ph.D. in meteorology from New York University in 1966.

Academic career Somerville is a theoretical meteorologist and an expert on computer simulations of the atmosphere. His research is on the physics of clouds and their role in the climate system. His interests include all aspects of climate, including climate science outreach and the interface between science and public policy. This research is reflected by a long list of publications in highly respected, peer reviewed journals. He comments frequently on climate and environmental issues for the media. He formally retired in 2007 but remains active in research, education and outreach. With Samuel S. P. Shen, he co-authored the book Climate Mathematics: Theory and Applications (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Honors Somerville has been named a Fellow of three scientific societies: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Meteorological Society. In 2017, Somerville received the Ambassador Award of the American Geophysical Union. This award is given in recognition of “outstanding contributions to one or more of the following area(s): societal impact, service to the Earth and space community, scientific leadership, and promotion of talent/career pool.” Among his honors to date, Somerville has received awards from the American Meteorological Society for both his research and his popular book The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change, a new edition of which was published in 2008 (ISBN 9781878220851). He was a Coordinating Lead Author for the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment report (IPCC AR4). The American Geophysical Union awarded him its 2015 Climate Communication Prize, which "highlights the importance of promoting scientific literacy, clarity of message, and efforts to foster respect and understanding of science-based values as they relate to the implications of climate change."

Advocacy and outreach Somerville was an organizer and signatory of the 2007 Bali Declaration by Climate Scientists. Throughout 2009 he worked with an international team of 26 leading climate scientists to prepare the Copenhagen Diagnosis. The Copenhagen Diagnosis was released in the lead-up to the UNFCCC COP15 conference in Copenhagen. It synthesizes the most recent scientific findings from hundreds of peer reviewed papers in areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, sea level, glaciers, tipping points and extreme climate events, among other key topics. Interviews, lectures and popular writings can be found on his personal website. Richard Somerville wrote the chapter on Communicating Climate Change Science in the 2019 University of California online publication, Bending the Curve: Climate Change Solutions. In 2022, Richard Somerville received the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Award for 2020-2021 from the California Air Resources Board, for a “lifetime of important contributions and achievements” in the field of climate change science.

References

External links Academic profile Richard Somerville's homepage Scripps Institution of Oceanography Somerville on climate science and ethics University of California, San Diego

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard Somerville

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard Somerville claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard Somerville before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard Somerville ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard Somerville

In research: Richard Somerville appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard Somerville in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard Somerville is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1941 births, American climatologists, Climate communication, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard Somerville outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard Somerville in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard Somerville means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard Somerville out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard Somerville in simple terms?

Why does Richard Somerville matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard Somerville?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard Somerville.