Joseph Charles Farman CBE (7 August 193011 May 2013) was a British

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

who worked for the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

. Together with Brian Gardiner and Jon Shanklin, he published the discovery of the ozone hole over

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

, having used

Dobson ozone spectrophotometer The Dobson spectrophotometer, also known as Dobsonmeter, Dobson spectrometer, or just Dobson is one of the earliest instruments used to measure atmospheric ozone. History The Dobson spectrometer was invented in 1924 by Gordon Dobson. A histor ...

s. Their results were first published on 16 May 1985.

Education

He was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

, where he was a prefect in Coke House, and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th centur ...

, where he gained an undergraduate degree in

Natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeat ...

Awards

He received numerous honours for this discovery, including the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-i ...

(SCI) Environment Medal, the Chree Medal and Prize, membership of the

Global 500 Roll of Honour The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNEP ...

, and a CBE in the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various ...

. For his critical contribution to saving the ozone layer, Farman was a winner of the 2021 Future of Life Award along with Stephen O. Andersen and Susan Solomon. Dr. Jim Hansen, former Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Director of Columbia University’s Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions said, “In Farman, Solomon and Andersen we see the tremendous impact individuals can have not only on the course of human history, but on the course of our planet’s history. My hope is that others like them will emerge in today’s battle against climate change.” Professor Brian Greene of Columbia University added, “the 2021 Future of Life award winners show how science can work for the betterment of humanity.”

References

External links

Joe Farman on the discovery of the ozone hole

Listen to an oral history interview with Joseph Farman
- a life story interview recorded fo
An Oral History of British Science
at the British Library
Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 11 October 1999, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- Session I
Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 12 October 1999, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
- Session II
Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 16 March 2009, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives

Oral history interview transcript with Joseph Farman on 16 March 2009 (as part of the Cambridge Seminar Group Session), American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
1930 births 2013 deaths British geophysicists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Norwich School Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Oral History of British Science {{geoscience-bio-stub