Chris Landsea

Credentials

Ph.D., Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University (1994).¹
Master’s, Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University (1991).²
Bachelor’s Degree, Atmospheric Sciences, University of California, (1987).³

Background

Christopher Landsea is the Science and Operations Officer at the National Hurricane Center, a part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Documents released by the Government Oversight Committee ⁴ and later by the Government Accountability Project⁵ suggest that Landsea was sought by republicans as a scientist to speak to the media on the connection between hurricanes and global warming, because of Landsea’s belief that this connection to be minimal.⁶

Stance on Climate Change

“… we certainly see substantial warming in the ocean and atmosphere over the last several decades on the order of a degree Fahrenheit, and I have no doubt a portion of that, at least, is due to greenhouse warming. The question is whether we’re seeing any real increases in the hurricane activity”⁷

Key Quotes

“…the evidence is quite strong and supported by the most recent credible studies that any impact in the future from global warming upon hurricane will likely be quite small”⁸

Key Deeds

December 2005

Landsea co-published a study (PDF) arguing that rising greenhouse gas levels would not influence hurricane intensity in the Atlantic basin.⁹

His co-authors included climate change skeptics Patrick Michaels and Chip Knappenberger.

January 2005

Landsea withdrew from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), claiming that the group had become politicized and ignored his concerns. His resignation letter was released on Prometheus, a blog run by Roger Pielke Jr.¹⁰

Affiliations

Roger Pielke Jr. — Co-published numerous papers.
NOAA — Science and Operations Officer, Technical Support Branch

@ChrisLandsea on Twitter.

Publications

See an archived list (as of 2008) of Landsea’s publications here. A complete list of publications as of 2011 is available at NOAA.

P.J. Michaels, P. C. Knappenberger and C. W. Landsea, 2005: Comments on “Impacts of CO2-Induced Warming on Simulated Hurricane Intensity and Precipitation: Sensitivity to the Choice of Climate Model and Convective Scheme”. J. of Climate, 18, 5179-5182. (PDF)

Other Resources

Resources

1
“Christopher Landsea,” biography at NOAA (Archived April 10, 2008).
2
“Christopher Landsea,” biography at NOAA (Archived April 10, 2008).
3
“Christopher Landsea,” biography at NOAA (Archived April 10, 2008).
4
“Rep. Waxman Releases Internal Commerce Department E-Mails on Climate Change,” Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, September 19, 2006. Archived November 3, 2009.
5
Tarek Maassarani. “Redacting the Science of Climate Change: An Investigative and Synthesis Report” (PDF), Government Accountability Project.
6
Paul D. Thacker. “Climate-controlled White House,” Salon, September 19, 2006.
7
“Hurricane Science,” PBS, Oct 18, 2005.
8
“Chris Landsea Leaves IPCC,” Prometheus, January 17, 2005.
9
“Comments on ‘Impacts of CO2-Induced Warming on Simulated Hurricane Intensity and Precipitation: Sensitivity to the Choice of Climate Model and Convective Scheme’” (PDF), Notes and Correspondence, December 1, 2005.
10
“Chris Landsea Leaves IPCC,” Colorado University Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, January 17, 2005.