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For Immediate Release:

October 16, 1997

Contact: Cheryl Ernst, (808) 956-5941

Phi Beta Kappa Lecture
Most Cited Author on El Niño Phenomenon to Talk Oct. 23

Klaus Wyrtki, the pioneer of research into the ocean's influence on global climate, will talk about El Niño and its consequences during a free public lecture on Thursday, Oct. 23, beginning at 7:30 p.m., in St. John Auditorium on the University of Hawai'i at Manoa campus.

The University of Hawai'i emeritus professor of oceanography's 1975 paper on El Niño-which remains the most widely cited paper ever published in the Journal of Physical Oceanography-spawned the decade-long international Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) experiment that established the present ability to predict El Niño events.

Dr. Wyrtki conceived and directed implementation of the system of satellite-connected tide gauges for measuring sea level across the Pacific, a key oceanographic parameter also used for monitoring tsunamis, and he led the North Pacific Experiment, which was the first to explore the ocean's role in climate variability.

He has received numerous national and international awards, including the Rosenstiel Award in Oceanographic Sciences from the American Geophysical Union, Sverdrup Gold Medal from the American Meteorological Society and the Albert Defant Medal from the Deutsch Meteorologische Gesellschaft. Locally, he received the UH Board of Regents Excellence in Research medal and Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Scientist of the Year award.

The Klaus Wyrtki Center for Climate Research and Prediction at the University of Hawai'i continues the scientist's work on the Asian-Australian Monsoon system, the dominant tropical climate feature at one end of the basin where El Niño occurs. The federally-funded center is part of the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR), a program of the Univeristy of Hawai'i and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

.Although retired, Dr. Wyrtki remains a leading expert in the field, most recently providing scientific information as a guest on Ted Koppel's ABC Nightline program last night.

 

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