Kirill Yakovlevich Kondratyev (; 14 June 1920 – 1 May 2006) was a Soviet and Russian atmospheric physicist.

Career

Kondratyev was born in

Rybinsk Rybinsk ( rus, Рыбинск, p=ˈrɨbʲɪnsk), the second largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia, lies at the confluence of the Volga River, Volga and Sheksna Rivers, 267 kilometers north-north-eas ...

. He went to school in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and in 1938 entered the University of Leningrad to study physics, mathematics, and chemistry. In 1941, he joined the Russian army and fought in the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

. He graduated in atmospheric physics in 1946 and was made an assistant professor in the Faculty of Physics. He later held the posts of lecturer, research scientist, professor of atmospheric physics, chief of the Department of Atmospheric Physics, University Vice-Rector and Rector. From 1958-61 he was Head of the Department of Radiation Studies at the Main Geophysical Observatory. He was a staff member of the Institute for Lake Research and the Research Centre for Ecological Safety. He helped to create the Nansen International Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre.

Acknowledgements

He was a member of the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

and

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

, the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm ( Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...

, the

German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (german: Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften), short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded ...

(1970), the

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the Atmospheric sciences, atmospheric, Oceanography, oceanic, and Hydrology, hydr ...

and the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...

. He received Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Lille (France), Athens (Greece) and Budapest (Hungary). His prizes include the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

and the twelfth

International Meteorological Organization Prize The International Meteorological Organization Prize is awarded annually by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for outstanding contributions in the field of meteorology and, since 1971, the field of operational hydrology. The prize, estab ...

. He was editorial advisor to ''Proceedings of the Russian Geographic Society'' (Russia), ''Idojaras'' (Hungary), ''Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics'' (Austria), ''Atmosfera'' (Mexico), ''Il Nuovo Cimento C ''(Italy) and ''Sustainable Development'' (USA).

Research

During 1970-75, he was a leading researcher in the Complex Atmospheric Energetic Experiment (CAENEX) project, the object of which was to study the transport of all categories of energy and all types of flux heat divergence in the atmosphere. Along with determining the shortwave(IR) absorption of

atmospheric aerosols An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

. Kondratyev served as a member of the International Programme Committee for the World Conference on Climate Change, held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 2003, where he presented a paper entitled "Uncertainties of Global Climate Change Observations and Simulation Modeling." He expressed skepticism about

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 ...

.''Professor Kirill Kondratyev: Global Warming is a Myth'' (in Russian)

Career

Acknowledgements

Research

References

Further reading