Sir John Houghton
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sir John Theodore Houghton (30 December 1931 – 15 April 2020) was a
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
atmospheric physicist who was the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) scientific assessment working group which shared the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
in 2007 with
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
. He was the lead editor of first three IPCC reports. He was professor in
atmospheric physics Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, chem ...
at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, former Director General at the Met Office and founder of the
Hadley Centre The Met Office Hadley Centre — named in honour of George Hadley — is one of the United Kingdom's leading centres for the study of scientific issues associated with climate change. It is part of, and based at the headquarters of the Met ...
. He was the president of the John Ray Initiative, an organisation "connecting Environment, Science and
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
", where he has compared the stewardship of the Earth, to the stewardship of the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve. He was a founding member of the
International Society for Science and Religion The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) is a learned society established in 2001 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion c ...
. He became the president of the
Victoria Institute The Victoria Institute, or Philosophical Society of Great Britain, was founded in 1865, as a response to the publication of ''On the Origin of Species'' and ''Essays and Reviews''. Its stated objective was to defend "the great truths revealed in ...
in 2005.


Biography

Born in
Dyserth Dyserth ( cy, Diserth) is a village, community and electoral ward in Denbighshire, Wales. Its population at the 2011 United Kingdom census was 2,269 and was estimated by the Office for National Statistics as 2,271 in 2019. It lies within the ...
, John Theodore Houghton was the second of the three sons of Sidney and Miriam (née Yarwood) Houghton. His older brother, David (died 2015), became a meteorologist. The third and youngest brother, Paul Houghton, became a lecturer in engineering and was treasurer and company chairman of the John Ray Initiative, connecting the environment, science and Christianity. The family moved to
Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...
when John was two, and he attended Rhyl Grammar School where he discovered his interest in science. He continued his education at
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...
, gaining a BA in 1951, MA (Oxon) and DPhil in 1955. He was brought up as an evangelical Christian by devout Christian parents and believed in science and Christianity as strengthening each other, as well as
Christianity and environmentalism Christian views on environmentalism vary among different Christians and Christian denominations. Major Christian denominations endorse the Biblical calling of our stewardship of God's creation and our responsibility for its care. Some of this ...
. Houghton's evangelical Christianity combined with his scientific background made him a significant voice in evangelical Christian circles. He was a supporter of and advisor to the international Christian relief and development agency
Tearfund Tearfund is an international Christianity, Christian relief and development agency based in Teddington, UK. It currently works in around 50 countries, with a primary focus on supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvan ...
. He was also an elder at Aberdovey Presbyterian Church. In 1962, Houghton married Dr Margaret Broughton, daughter of a mill owner in Colwyn, Lancashire, and they had two children and seven grandchildren. Following her death from
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in 1986, he set up the Margaret Houghton Memorial Fund, a research unit on medical nursing in her memory. His second wife, Sheila, became his companion for almost thirty years. Posts include: * a Member of the UK Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994–2000) * Chairman,
Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in the United Kingdom was created under Royal Warrant in 1970 to advise the Queen, Government, Parliament and the public on environmental issues. It was closed on 1 April 2011, as part of the Coali ...
(1992–98) * Chairman or Co-Chairman, Scientific Assessment Working Group, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1988–2002) * Director General (later Chief Executive), UK
Meteorological Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope ...
(1983–91) * Director Appleton,
Science and Engineering Research Council The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...
(also Deputy Director,
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the Atlas ...
)(1979–83) * Professor of Atmospheric Physics, Oxford University (1973–83). He was knighted in 1991. Houghton was an Honorary Scientist of the
Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research The Met Office Hadley Centre — named in honour of George Hadley — is one of the United Kingdom's leading centres for the study of scientific issues associated with climate change. It is part of, and based at the headquarters of the Met Of ...
at the Met Office (since 2002); Honorary Scientist at the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the Atlas ...
(since 1991); a Trustee of the
Shell Foundation The Shell Foundation is an initiative of the oil major Royal Dutch Shell, envisioned in 1997,European Venture Philanthropy Association http://evpa.eu.com/membership/country/uk/4369 as a worldwide, social investment initiative to concentrate on wor ...
(since 2000); Chairman of the John Ray Initiative (since 1997) and in 2013 was announced as an Advisory Board member for Sure Chill Technology. He moved back to Wales and lived in
Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a large ...
. In 2007 he criticised the controversial documentary ''
The Great Global Warming Swindle ''The Great Global Warming Swindle'' is a 2007 British polemical documentary film directed by Martin Durkin. The film denies the scientific consensus about the reality and causes of climate change, justifying this by suggesting that climatolo ...
'' for its inaccuracies. He died of complications from
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
on 15 April 2020, aged 88.


Awards and honours

*
Albert Einstein World Award of Science The Albert Einstein World Award for Science is an annual award given by the World Cultural Council "as a means of recognition and encouragement for scientific and technological research and development", with special consideration for researches ...
(2009) * Japan Prize (2006) *
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 ...
(1998) *
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, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...
, Honorary Member (1998) *
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awar ...
(1995) * Global 500 Award, under the United Nations Environmental Programme (1994) * Bakerian Lecture of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, (1991) * Symons Gold Medal,
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 ...
(1990) *
Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize The Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize is awarded annually by the Institute of Physics to recognise leadership in the field of physics. It was established in 1966 and named in honour of Sir Richard T. Glazebrook, the first president of the Insti ...
,
Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...
, (1990) * William Gaskell Medal of 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 ...
, (1983) * The Chree medal and prize (1979) * President of 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 ...
(1976–1978) * Elected
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
(1972) He received Honorary Doctorates of Science from the Universities of Wales (1991), Stirling (1992), East Anglia (1993), Leeds (1995), Heriot-Watt (1996), Greenwich (1997), Glamorgan (1998), Reading (1999), Birmingham (2000), Gloucestershire (2001), Hull (2002) and Dalhousie (2010). He was an Honorary Fellow of
Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship S ...
,
University of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...
and of
University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...
and was also a Founding Fellow of the
Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales ( Welsh: Cymdeithas Ddysgedig Cymru) is a learned society and charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the Welsh natio ...
.


Legacy

A metal sculpture of Sir John Houghton was erected in
Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...
in 2013, together with figures of two other local celebrities, Don Spendlove and Mike Peters.


Selected publications

* Does God Play Dice? 1988, Intervarsity Press * Global Warming, the Complete Briefing, 1994, Lion Publishing (2nd edition 1997, Cambridge University Press; 3rd edition 2004, Cambridge University Press; 4th edition 2010, Cambridge University Press; 5th edition 2015, Cambridge University Press) * The search for God; can science help? 1995, Lion Publishing * Physics of Atmospheres, 1977. 2nd edition 1986, 3rd edition 2002, Cambridge University Press. * Climate Change, the IPCC Scientific Assessment, eds J.T. Houghton, G.J. Jenkins and J.J. Ephraums, 1990, Cambridge University Press * Climate Change 1992, the Supplementary Report to the IPCC Scientific Assessment, eds. J.T. Houghton, B.A. Callander and S.K. Varney, 1992, Cambridge University Press * Climate Change 1994, Radiative Forcing of Climate Change and an Evaluation of the IPCC IS92 Emission Scenarios, eds. J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, J. Bruce, Hoesung Lee, B.A. Callander, E. Haites, N. Harris and K. Maskell, 1994, Cambridge University Press * Climate Change 1995, the Science of Climate Change, eds. J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, B.A.Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg and K. Maskell, 1995, Cambridge University Press * Climate Change 2001, The Scientific Basis, eds J.T. Houghton, Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, C.A. Johnson, 2001 Cambridge University Press


Misquotation

In a November 2006 article in Australia's ''The Daily Telegraph'', journalist
Piers Akerman Piers Akerman (born 12 June 1950) is an Australian columnist and conservative commentator for the Sydney newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph''. Biography Akerman was born in Wewak, Papua New Guinea, the third son in a family of four children of J ...
quoted Houghton as saying "Unless we announce disasters, no one will listen", attributing the quotation to his 1994 book ''Global Warming, The Complete Briefing''. This has since been quoted by many deniers, including Benny Peiser and Christopher Monckton, and is listed at the top of the front page of
Christopher Booker Christopher John Penrice Booker (7 October 1937 – 3 July 2019) was an English journalist and author. He was a founder and first editor of the satire, satirical magazine ''Private Eye'' in 1961. From 1990 onward he was a columnist for ''The Su ...
's '' The Real Global Warming Disaster''. However, the quotation does not appear in any edition of Houghton's book. Houghton never said any such thing and believed the opposite. The publishers of ''The Real Global Warming Disaster'', The Continuum International Publishing Group, apologised for the reference to that quotation, confirmed (in addition to Booker's confirmation) that it will not be repeated, and agreed to place a corrigendum in any further copies of the book. In an article which appeared in ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' on 20 February 2010, Christopher Booker purported to correct the misquotation contained in ''The Real Global Warming Disaster'' but this article contained yet further inaccuracies. As a result, Houghton referred the matter to the
Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Inde ...
(PCC Reference 101959). Following the PCC's involvement, ''The Sunday Telegraph'' published on 15 August 2010 a letter of correction by Houghton stating his true position. An article supportive of Houghton also appeared in the edition of 21 May 2010 of ''New Scientist''. The correct quotation was, "If we want a good environmental policy in the future we'll have to have a disaster. It's like safety on public transport. The only way humans will act is if there's been an accident."


References


External links

*
Global warming is getting worse – but the message is getting through
(August 2004) and

(July 2003) from ''
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 ...
''
Overview of Climate Change, 2002

Global warming – science, impacts and politics, lecture 2001




{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, John T 1931 births Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford British Christians Knights Bachelor British climatologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales Fellows of the Royal Society Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors Members of the International Society for Science and Religion People from Rhyl Presidents of the Royal Meteorological Society Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Welsh physicists Members of Academia Europaea 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales Writers about religion and science