Mojib Latif (born 29 September 1954) is a German

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

and

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

of Pakistani descent. Latif graduated with a Diplom in

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

in 1983. He took a position as scientist at the

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (''Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie''; MPI-M) is an internationally renowned institute for climate research. Its mission is to understand Earth's changing climate. Founded in 1975, it is affiliated w ...

in 1985. In 1987 he earned a Ph.D. in oceanography from the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...

. In 2003 he became professor at IFM-GEOMAR,

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

, the

Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences The GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), former ''Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences'' ( German: ''Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften'', IFM-GEOMAR), is a research institute in Kiel, Germany. It was formed in 200 ...

. Mojib Latif is a regular guest at TV discussions 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 ...

Academic career

In 2008 Latif was joint author of a modelling study in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' whose results suggested "global surface temperature may not increase over the next decade, as natural climate variations in the North Atlantic and tropical Pacific temporarily offset the projected anthropogenic warming." At the UN's World Climate Conference 2009 in Geneva Latif gave a talk about prediction that used, amongst other material, results from this paper. ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...

'' reported about Latif's research that "we could be about to enter one or even two decades of cooler temperatures". This interpretation has been stated as incorrect in an interview with Latif, after being asked whether he was a global warming sceptic, he explained that "If my name was not Mojib Latif, my name would be global warming. So I really believe in Global Warming. Okay. However, you know, we have to accept that there are these natural fluctuations, and therefore, the temperature may not show additional warming temporarily." In 2000, he gave an interview to the German journal Der Spiegel where he said "Winter with strong frost and a lot of snow, as happened 20 years ago, will no longer exist in our region."

Selected publications

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Personal life

Latif's father, Chaudhry Abdul Latif, migrated to Germany from Pakistan. He was an imam and one of the founders of Hamburg's Ahmadi-affiliated

Fazle Omar Mosque The Fazl-e-Omar Mosque in Hamburg is the second purpose-built mosque in Germany. The mosque is named after the Second Caliph Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad and is located at the street of Wieckstraße in Eimsbüttel, Hamburg. It is run by the ...

in 1957. Latif is married to Norwegian-born Elisabeth Latif.

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people German meteorologists German oceanographers Pakistani meteorologists Pakistani oceanographers German people of Pakistani descent University of Hamburg alumni Naturalized citizens of Germany Sverdrup Gold Medal Award Recipients {{Germany-scientist-stub