May 4, 2021
CCI scientists make the Reuters Hot List
Several CCI scientists listed as leading climate influencers by media organisation
Eleven leading experts working as part of ESA’s Climate Change Initiative feature in a new list of the world’s 1,000 most influential climate researchers.
Compiled by global news agency Reuters, the Hot List identifies scientists considered to have had the biggest impact on the current climate change debate.
The inclusion of so many affiliated scientists places the Agency’s flagship climate research and development programme on a par with leading research bodies such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the UK’s Met Office and reflects its on-going contribution to strengthening the scientific understanding of our changing environment.
The Hot List is Reuters’ first published ranking of the world’s climate scientists based on their influence, and ranks individuals based on their publication record, how often their studies have been cited (compared to the average) and the wider online attention their work has received in the lay press, policy papers and through social media.
Eight scientists contributing to the CCI, feature in the top half of the list. Stephen Sitch from Exeter Uni. who is involved in the CCI’s RECCAP-2 project, which utilises satellite observation datasets to better understand and assess regional carbon cycle Processes, features in the top 20.
Established in 2010, the ESA Climate Change Initiative comprises several dedicated projects that are generating long-term and global satellite observation datasets for a suite of Essential Climate Variables. Required by the UNFCCC, these freely available data are used to characterise and validate model projections of the global climate - and inform global and national action relating to mitigation and adaptation.
Susanne Mecklenburg, head of ESA’s Climate office says: “The list reflects the leading contribution that scientists from ESA’s Member States, and Earth observation data, play in providing the empirical evidence and assessing our changing climate to support.”
ESA CCI researchers included in the Reuters Hot List
- Rank #14 Stephen Sitch, University of Exeter (RECCAP-2)
- Rank #53, Corinne Le Quere (RECCAP-2)
- Rank #239, Frédéric Chevallier, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (Greenhouse Gases, RECCAP-2)
- Rank #255 Veronika Eyring, German Aerospace Center (Climate Modelling User Group)
- Rank #314 Chris Merchant, University of Reading (Sea Surface Temperature)
- Rank #331 Richard Jones, Met Office (Climate Modelling User Group)
- Rank #409 Martin Herold, Wageningen University & Research (Biomass)
- Rank #551 Francisco Javier Doblas-Reyes, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Climate Modelling User Group)
- Rank #568 Shubha Sathyrendranath, Plymouth Marine Laboratory (Ocean Colour)
- Rank #765 Craig Donlon, European Space Agency (Various CCI oceanic projects)
- Rank #827 Michael Buchwitz, University of Bremen (Greenhouse Gases)