NASA Names Its First

Climate Advisor
Gavin Schmidt, an expert in climate modeling, will help
ensure the Biden Administration has crucial data to
inform its emissions reduction goals
 
By Scott Waldman, E&E News on February 4, 2021






Gavin Schmidt, a high-profile scientist, is NASA's new climate adviser. Credit:  NASA

NASA announced yesterday that Gavin Schmidt, an expert in climate

modeling, will become the space agency's first senior climate adviser.

The new NASA position underscores the Biden administration's push to

integrate climate policy throughout the federal government. Schmidt, director
of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, will serve in an acting role
until he receives a permanent appointment, agency officials said.
“The appointment of Gavin Schmidt will help ensure that the Biden
Administration has the crucial data to implement and track its plan toward the
path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050, and a healthier,
safer, more prosperous planet for our children,” said acting NASA Chief of
Staff Bhavya Lal in a statement.
ADVERTISEMENT

Schmidt said in an interview with E&E News that he plans to use the position
to incorporate science into policymaking and to educate the public on climate
change.

“It's a point person who can kind of draw all the strings together and have
them be available for the rest of the administration's climate push and for the
public as well,” he said. “There's a number of things that the administration
has asked the agency to do climatewise, I imagine, that will be in my purview.”

While the early days of the administration have seen an expansive focus on
climate policy, Biden has not yet named a NASA administrator nor a head for
NOAA, the nation's two premiere science agencies.

Schmidt, who has a doctorate in applied mathematics from University College

London, is an expert in the modeling of past, current and future climate
conditions. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed
papers.

Schmidt was often a target of Trump allies who did not like his outspoken
advocacy for climate research. NASA, however, was one of the few areas of the
federal government where climate research was largely left alone by the
Trump administration.
ADVERTISEMENT

NASA uses more than two dozen satellites and scientific instruments to
observe and track key climate data, according to the agency. In his new role,
Schmidt will be expected to communicate the agency's research with the
public and policymakers, and to work with the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget.
Schmidt's appointment will help the Biden administration develop the
scientific backing to carry out its plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050,
Lal said.

“The complexities of climate processes still are not fully understood, and
climate adaptation and mitigation efforts cannot succeed without robust
climate observations, data and research,” Lal said.

Sign up for Scientific American’s free newsletters.

Sign Up

Science can offer more than just information about rising carbon emissions
and the need to mitigate them, Schmidt said. For example, there is room to
broaden NASA's research, to explore the co-benefits and consequences of
water resources and crop yields, he said.

Schmidt said there is still plenty to be done in improving climate science “in
the service of making better decisions.”
ADVERTISEMENT

“Policies can't be implemented in a vacuum, and you want to be able to make

policy choices in the light of the best science that tells you what the
consequences of those choices are going to be,” Schmidt said.
Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright
2021. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment
professionals.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Scott Waldman

Recent Articles
 Five Things in Biden's Climate Day Orders That Flew Under the Radar
 Biden's First Climate Actions Include Rejoining Paris Agreement
 Historic Picks for EPA, Interior Complete Biden Climate Team
E&E News

Recent Articles
 Biden Pushes U.S.--and the World--to Help Climate Migrants
 New Report Maps Out the U.S. Road to Net-Zero Emissions
 U.S. Cities Are Underestimating Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions
READ THIS NEXT

BEHAVIOR & SOCIETY

Humans Are Pretty Lousy Lie Detectors

6 minutes ago — Christiane Gelitz

PUBLIC HEALTH

Why the U.S. Is Underestimating COVID Reinfection

14 hours ago — JoNel Aleccia and Kaiser Health News

BEHAVIOR & SOCIETY

From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

15 hours ago — Aldon Morris

CLIMATE

Biden Pushes U.S.--and the World--to Help Climate Migrants

16 hours ago — Adam Aton and E&E News

SPACE

The United Arab Emirates' Hope Probe Approaches Mars

19 hours ago — Meghan Bartels and SPACE.com

BIOLOGY

Hormone Levels Are Being Used to Discriminate against Female Athletes

20 hours ago — Grace Huckins

ADVERTISEMENT