Research

Paul Crutzen's research has been especially concerned with the natural and anthropogenically disturbed photochemistry of ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere. Thereby he also identified biomass burning, especially in the tropics, as an important source of widespread air pollution, especially during the dry season, with potential impacts on Earth climate. He introduced the “Anthropocene”, a new geological era, in which the environment ins increasingly influenced by human action.

Crutzen received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995 for his research on atmospheric ozone.

Career

• until 2008 Research at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• 1980-2000 Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz
• 1977-1980 Director of Research at the National Center of Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado
• 1974-1977 Research Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, USA
• 1969-1971 Post-doctoral fellow of the European Space Research Organization
• 1968 PhD, Meteorology, University of Stockholm

Honours and Memberships

(Selection)

• 2014 Honorary Member, National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 2000 Asteroid (9679) Crutzen named after Paul J. Crutzen
• 1996 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1995 Global Ozone Award
• 1995 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research on atmospheric ozone
• 1994 Deutscher Umweltpreis
• since 1992 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• Honorary Member, American Meteorological Society
• Honorary Member, European Geophysical Society (EGS)