Broecker, Wallace (1931-)

WALLACE BROECKER IS an American oceanographer, Newberry Professor of Geology at Columbia University, and scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who made major contributions to chemical oceanography, especially oceanic mixing based on radioisotopic distribution. Broecker set the research agenda for the field of paleoclimatology, thanks to his ability to devise coherent pictures of how all the different elements of the Earth shape the planets climate. In particular, Broecker focused on the influence of oceans in triggering abrupt climate changes. His research has made him one of the most often-quoted scientists in contemporary debates about global warming. A New York Times reporter described him as the “iconoclastic guru of the climate debate.”

Broecker was born on November 29, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois, where his father ran a ...