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Wallace Broecker, Pioneering Climate Scientist Who Popularized Term “Global Warming,” Dies at 87

HeadlineFeb 20, 2019

And renowned geophysicist, Columbia professor and climate scientist Wallace Broecker died Monday at the age of 87 in New York. Broecker is credited with popularizing the term “global warming” and was one of the first scientists to demonstrate the link between carbon emissions and rising temperatures in the 1970s. He also advanced scientific understanding of the oceans’ effect on the atmosphere, which he termed the “ocean conveyor belt.” In 1975, he published a landmark research paper titled “Climatic Change: Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?” outlining the role of human activity on the climate. Professor Broecker famously said, “The climate system is an angry beast, and we are poking it with sticks.’’

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