John P. Abraham is a professor of thermal sciences at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. In 2009 he started to analyze misrepresentations being used to promote

climate change denial Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...

, and from 2010 became a prominent defender of science in the global warming controversy. In that year, he helped to launch the

Climate Science Rapid Response Team The Climate Science Rapid Response Team is a service to provide accurate information on climate science in response to media and government queries, by matching members of the media and government with questions, to the working climate scientists b ...

Career

Abraham is professor of thermal science (

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...

) and

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...

at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering,

.University of St. Thomas : School of Engineering : John P. Abraham, Ph.D
His area of research includes thermodynamics,

heat transfer Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...

fluid flow In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...

numerical simulation Computer simulation is the process of mathematical modelling, performed on a computer, which is designed to predict the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be deter ...

, and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

. After gaining his doctorate at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 2002, he joined St. Thomas as an adjunct instructor, later becoming a full-time member of the faculty. He has published over 200 papers in journals and conferences, and since 1997 has also been an engineering consultant working on industrial research in aerospace, biomedical, energy and manufacturing industries. He works on clean and renewable wind and solar projects in the developing world, and has also produced numerous books, such as a 2014 text on small-scale wind power and a 2010 groundbreaking text on laminar-to-turbulent fluid flow.

Refutation of climate change denial

Abraham felt it was necessary to respond to a talk given to the Minnesota Free Market Institute in October 2009 by a well-known denier of human-caused

global warming 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 ...

Christopher Monckton Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (born 14 February 1952) is a British public speaker and hereditary peer. He is known for his work as a journalist, Conservative political advisor, UKIP political candidate, and fo ...

. He thought "this guy is a great speaker and he is very convincing. If I didn’t know the science, I would believe him. Frankly, the nonscientists in the audience didn’t have a chance. They had no way of knowing what he said was not true. I felt Monckton took advantage of them and he knew he was taking advantage of them." In the following months he carried out research, contacting scientists cited by Monckton, and in late May 2010, he posted online an 83-minute video rebutting Monckton's statements. This attracted little attention at first, until it was highlighted by an article

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Abraham's presentation and the response from Monckton subsequently received world-wide attention. More recently, Abraham and a number of colleagues including

Michael E. Mann Michael Evan Mann (born 1965) is an American climatologist and geophysicist. He is the director of the Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media at the University of Pennsylvania. Mann has contributed to the scientific understanding of his ...

submitted a document to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

which set out to refute nine errors in Christopher Monckton's May 6, 2010, testimony. In November 2010, Abraham (and two colleagues,

Scott Mandia Scott A. Mandia is professor of Earth and space sciences and assistant chair of the Physical Sciences Department at Suffolk County Community College, Long Island, New York, USA. He has been teaching introductory meteorology and climatology cours ...

and Ray Weymann) launched the

, to provide rapid, high-quality scientific information to the media and government decision-makers. The intention of this group is to enable scientists to share their work directly with the general public. This effort has been covered by many media outlets. The effort has an online page for media to submit their questions.Climate Science Rapid Response Matchmakers (CSRRT)
Abraham estimated early in 2012 that since beginning his rebuttal he had put around 1,000 unpaid hours into work on climate change and the controversy. He has given numerous speeches to publicize global warming issues, but does not accept funding for climate research or ask for an honorarium for speeches: if payment is given he asks that it goes to St. Thomas or to charity.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, John University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) faculty University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni American mechanical engineers American climate activists 21st-century American engineers 21st-century American physicists Fluid dynamicists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)