Michael MacCracken
Encyclopedia
Michael MacCracken Michael Calvin MacCracken (1942- ), has been Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs with the Climate Institute in Washington DC since 2002; he was also elected to its Board of Directors in 2006.
to analyze the plausibility of then current hypotheses for the causes of ice age
cycling.
focused on development and application of numerical models to study of climate change
(including study of the potential climatic effects of greenhouse gases, volcanic aerosols, land-cover change, and nuclear war
and factors affecting air quality (including photochemical pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area
.
’s Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Pollution Study, which focused on acid precipitation in the northeastern US, and was a program adviser (1979-93) for various components of DOE’s Carbon Dioxide Research Program, including serving as lead editor of two volumes of DOE’s 1985 assessments on climate change. From 1984-1990, he served as U.S. co-chair of Project 02.08–11 under Working Group VIII of the US/USSR Joint Committee on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. At LLNL, he served as deputy division leader for atmospheric and geophysical sciences from 1974-1987 and division leader from 1974-1987.
From 1993-2002, Dr. MacCracken was on assignment from LLNL to the interagency Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) in Washington D.C., as senior global change scientist. With the Office, he served as its first executive director from 1993-1997 and as executive director of the National Assessment Coordination Office from 1997-2001, coordinating preparation of the first comprehensive national assessment of climate change impacts on the US [16,17]. During this assignment, Dr. MacCracken also served as a co-author/contributing author for various chapters in the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), as well as coordinating preparation of the official U.S. Government reviews of the Second and Third IPCC Assessment Reports. He also served as president of the International Commission on Climate from 1995-2003 and co-editor of volume 1 of the Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change.
From 2003-07, Dr. MacCracken served as president of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS) and on the executive committees of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
(IUGG), members of which are the national academies of science or their equivalent in about 65 nations. He also was a member of the executive committee of the Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR) from 2003-11 and a member of the synthesis team for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment from 2002-04 [20]. From 2004-2007 he served on a scientific expert group convened by Sigma Xi
and the UN Foundation at the request of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
to suggest the best measures for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.
Dr. MacCracken’s current research interests include climate engineering and the especially important role in limiting climate change that can be played by reduction in emissions of short-lived greenhouse gases and absorbing aerosols. He has also prepared several declarations relating to climate change, one of which was cited favorably by Justice Stevens in his majority opinion in the April 2007 decision by the US Supreme Court in the case of Massachusetts
et al. versus the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).
MacCracken is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
(AAAS), and a member of the American Meteorological Society
, American Geophysical Union
, the Oceanography Society
, and Sigma Xi
. He was a publicly elected member of the board of directors of the Livermore (California) Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) from 1970-78. He also edited the book about Josiah Calvin McCracken, his maternal grandfather. He is the great-grandson of Henry Mitchell MacCracken
, grandson of Henry Noble MacCracken [link to http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/presidents/henry-noble-maccracken.html], son of Calvin Dodd MacCracken, and brother of Mark MacCracken.
Early life
Born Schenectady, New York, he graduated from Tenafly High School in 1960 before receiving his B.S. in Engineering degree from Princeton University in 1964 and his Ph.D. Applied Science from the University of California Davis/Livermore in 1968. His dissertation involved development and application of an early global climate modelClimate model
Climate models use quantitative methods to simulate the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice. They are used for a variety of purposes from study of the dynamics of the climate system to projections of future climate...
to analyze the plausibility of then current hypotheses for the causes of ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
cycling.
Academic research
From 1968-1993, Dr. MacCracken’s research at the Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
focused on development and application of numerical models to study of climate change
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
(including study of the potential climatic effects of greenhouse gases, volcanic aerosols, land-cover change, and nuclear war
Nuclear winter
Nuclear winter is a predicted climatic effect of nuclear war. It has been theorized that severely cold weather and reduced sunlight for a period of months or even years could be caused by detonating large numbers of nuclear weapons, especially over flammable targets such as cities, where large...
and factors affecting air quality (including photochemical pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
Positions held
Project director (1976-1979) of the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
’s Multistate Atmospheric Power Production Pollution Study, which focused on acid precipitation in the northeastern US, and was a program adviser (1979-93) for various components of DOE’s Carbon Dioxide Research Program, including serving as lead editor of two volumes of DOE’s 1985 assessments on climate change. From 1984-1990, he served as U.S. co-chair of Project 02.08–11 under Working Group VIII of the US/USSR Joint Committee on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. At LLNL, he served as deputy division leader for atmospheric and geophysical sciences from 1974-1987 and division leader from 1974-1987.
From 1993-2002, Dr. MacCracken was on assignment from LLNL to the interagency Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) in Washington D.C., as senior global change scientist. With the Office, he served as its first executive director from 1993-1997 and as executive director of the National Assessment Coordination Office from 1997-2001, coordinating preparation of the first comprehensive national assessment of climate change impacts on the US [16,17]. During this assignment, Dr. MacCracken also served as a co-author/contributing author for various chapters in the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
(IPCC), as well as coordinating preparation of the official U.S. Government reviews of the Second and Third IPCC Assessment Reports. He also served as president of the International Commission on Climate from 1995-2003 and co-editor of volume 1 of the Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change.
From 2003-07, Dr. MacCracken served as president of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (IAMAS) and on the executive committees of International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
The International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the scientific study of the Earth using geophysical and geodesic techniques. The IUGG was established in 1919. Some areas within its scope are environmental preservation, reduction of the effects of...
(IUGG), members of which are the national academies of science or their equivalent in about 65 nations. He also was a member of the executive committee of the Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR) from 2003-11 and a member of the synthesis team for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment from 2002-04 [20]. From 2004-2007 he served on a scientific expert group convened by Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...
and the UN Foundation at the request of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
Commission on Sustainable Development
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development was established in December 1992 by General Assembly Resolution as a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council, implementing a recommendation in of Agenda 21, the landmark global agreement reached at the June 1992 United...
to suggest the best measures for mitigating and adapting to global climate change.
Dr. MacCracken’s current research interests include climate engineering and the especially important role in limiting climate change that can be played by reduction in emissions of short-lived greenhouse gases and absorbing aerosols. He has also prepared several declarations relating to climate change, one of which was cited favorably by Justice Stevens in his majority opinion in the April 2007 decision by the US Supreme Court in the case of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
et al. versus the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA).
MacCracken is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(AAAS), and a member of the American Meteorological Society
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
, American Geophysical Union
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting of over 50,000 members from over 135 countries. AGU's activities are focused on the organization and dissemination of scientific information in the interdisciplinary and international field of geophysics...
, the Oceanography Society
Oceanography Society
The Oceanography Society is a non-profit society founded in 1988, based in Rockville, Maryland, U.S. and incorporated in the District of Columbia...
, and Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...
. He was a publicly elected member of the board of directors of the Livermore (California) Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) from 1970-78. He also edited the book about Josiah Calvin McCracken, his maternal grandfather. He is the great-grandson of Henry Mitchell MacCracken
Henry MacCracken
Henry Mitchell MacCracken was an American educator , born in Oxford, Ohio. MacCracken graduated from Miami University in 1857. After a brief teaching career, he entered the Presbyterian ministry in 1863...
, grandson of Henry Noble MacCracken [link to http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/presidents/henry-noble-maccracken.html], son of Calvin Dodd MacCracken, and brother of Mark MacCracken.