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John Murray Mitchell Jr. (September 17, 1928 – October 5, 1990) was an American climatologist. As a
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
weather officer in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
from 1952 to 1955, he investigated and named the
Arctic haze. He served with the
United States Weather Bureau
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the p ...
and successor agencies from 1955 until his retirement in 1986, and was a prominent member of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
and the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
. The
Mitchell Glacier Mitchell Glacier is a glacier which descends steeply from Chaplains Tableland in the northeast of the Royal Society Range, Victoria Land, Antarctica, flowing east-northeast between Transit Ridge and Ibarra Peak to join the Blue Glacier drainage sout ...
was named after him.
Early life
![Boeing WB-29A 462090 53 WRS BWD 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Boeing_WB-29A_462090_53_WRS_BWD_09.54_edited-5.jpg)
John Murray Mitchell Jr. was born on September 17, 1928, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He grew up in
Tuxedo Park, New York
Tuxedo Park is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 623 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area as well as the la ...
, and as an adolescent became interested in weather and climate. His studies at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
led to a bachelor's degree in 1951 and a master's in 1952. He then served as a
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
weather officer in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
for three years. During this time, he observed a Spring haze, at times as dense as
smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...
, which he called
Arctic haze. His investigation into the particles forming the haze indicated that it had come from industrial areas of Europe and China.
In 1955 he became a research meteorologist with the
United States Weather Bureau
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the p ...
, and in 1960 he earned a doctorate at
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...
on US temperature change. In 1965 he became a project scientist on climatic change with the newly formed
Environmental Science Services Administration
The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorologica ...
, which five years later became part of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA). In that organization he became a senior climatologist in 1974, and senior research climatologist from 1983 until his retirement in 1986. He continued to serve as a climatology consultant to the government after his retirement.
Mitchell was a pioneer in investigation and understanding of
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
. In 1976 he described the conjecture of
global cooling
Global cooling was a conjecture, especially during the 1970s, of imminent cooling of the Earth culminating in a period of extensive glaciation, due to the cooling effects of aerosols or orbital forcing.
Some press reports in the 1970s specul ...
as irresponsible, and around that time supported other scientists in warning of the damaging effects of increasing in the atmosphere. In 1978 he became executive editor of ''
Weatherwise
''Weatherwise'' is a magazine founded by David M. Ludlum and was published by Heldref Publications in Washington DC, but now is published by Taylor & Francis Group. It covers weather and climate for weather enthusiasts as well as meteorologists a ...
'' magazine.
He was a member of the
Polar Research Board
Polar may refer to:
Geography
Polar may refer to:
* Geographical pole, either of two fixed points on the surface of a rotating body or planet, at 90 degrees from the equator, based on the axis around which a body rotates
* Polar climate, the c ...
of the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
from 1978 to 1982, and Chairman of the Committee on
Polar Regions
The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high latitudes are dominated by float ...
and
Climatic Change
''Climatic Change'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering cross-disciplinary work on all aspects of climate change and variability. It was established in 1978 and the editors-in-chie ...
from 1979 to 1984. He was also a member of the
Advisory Committee
An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...
to the Division of
Polar Programs of the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
(NSF) from 1988 to 1990.
Research work
Mitchell's investigation of
Arctic haze in the 1950s found
aerosol
An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or Human impact on the environment, anthropogenic. Examples of natural aerosols are fog o ...
particles which apparently originated from industrial areas of Europe and China.
Using studies of
nuclear fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
from bomb tests which showed how aerosols moved in the upper atmosphere, he compared global temperature statistics with the record of volcanic eruptions in a 1961 paper which put forward his view that large eruptions had significantly affected temperatures at a hemispherical scale. Average temperatures had fallen since 1940 despite a lack of eruptions, and he thought this an "enigma" which might indicate a long term "rhythm" or
cycle.
In a seminal 1963 paper he analysed data from nearly 200 weather stations to show increasing temperatures from the start of the data in 1880 up to about 1940, followed by multidecadal cooling.
He continued his statistical investigations, and in a 1969 paper calculated that about two-thirds of Northern Hemisphere cooling since 1940 had been caused by a few recent volcanic eruptions, leading him to conclude that "man has been playing a very poor second fiddle to nature as a dust factory", though he thought that human influence could increase. In a 1971 paper he calculated that human caused aerosol emissions might result in
global cooling
Global cooling was a conjecture, especially during the 1970s, of imminent cooling of the Earth culminating in a period of extensive glaciation, due to the cooling effects of aerosols or orbital forcing.
Some press reports in the 1970s specul ...
after 2000 but depending on circumstances these emissions might cause a warming effect, indicating that humans had been "an innocent bystander" in the recent cooling. Calculations were too basic at this time to be trusted to give reliable results.
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As research developed, he drew attention to increasing evidence that warming climate, particularly in polar regions, was due to human caused
greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
and could change weather patterns to the detriment of agriculture.
Later life and commemoration
In his later years he lived in
McLean, Virginia
McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...
. He suffered a long illness, and died at
Georgetown University Hospital
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...
in Washington on October 5, 1990.
In 1992 the
Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names
The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (ACAN or US-ACAN) is an advisory committee of the United States Board on Geographic Names responsible for recommending commemorative names for features in Antarctica.
History
The committee was established ...
(US-ACAN) named the
Mitchell Glacier Mitchell Glacier is a glacier which descends steeply from Chaplains Tableland in the northeast of the Royal Society Range, Victoria Land, Antarctica, flowing east-northeast between Transit Ridge and Ibarra Peak to join the Blue Glacier drainage sout ...
after him.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, J. Murray
American climatologists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel
United States Air Force officers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Pennsylvania State University alumni
1928 births
1990 deaths