Lonnie Thompson

Lonnie Thompson
Name	Lonnie Thompson
Birth date	1948
Birth place	East Liverpool, Ohio
Fields	Paleoclimatology, Glaciology
Workplaces	Ohio State University, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
Alma mater	Ohio State University, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Known for	Ice core drilling, tropical ice core records

Lonnie Thompson is an American paleoclimatologist and glaciologist noted for pioneering high-elevation tropical and subtropical ice core research to reconstruct past climate variability. He led numerous field expeditions to glaciers in the Andes, Himalaya, Peru, Tibet, Kenya, and the Ethiopian Highlands, producing long-term records of temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric composition. Thompson's work linked tropical glacier histories to global climate processes and informed assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and numerous national research institutions.

Early life and education

Born in East Liverpool, Ohio, Thompson completed undergraduate studies at Youngstown State University and earned graduate degrees from Ohio State University and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. At Ohio State University he joined the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, collaborating with faculty such as E. James (Jim) Hansen's contemporaries and researchers at Columbia University and Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory. His doctoral and postdoctoral training emphasized ice core techniques connected to programs at National Science Foundation field stations and polar research platforms including McMurdo Station.

Paleoclimatology research and career

Thompson's career centers on reconstructing paleoclimate from ice cores, integrating isotopic analysis, trace chemistry, and particulate studies to interpret past variations attributed to events like the Little Ice Age, Medieval Warm Period, and industrial-era forcing. He built partnerships with institutions such as NASA, NOAA, Smithsonian Institution, U.S. Geological Survey, and international centers including Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco and Indian Institute of Science. His laboratory collaborations linked methods used at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Purdue University, and Harvard University to improve chronologies for ice cores recovered from tropical glaciers.

Major expeditions and ice core fieldwork

Thompson led major expeditions to drill ice cores on tropical and mid-latitude glaciers, undertaking logistic coordination with organizations like Airbus, United States Air Force, Peruvian Air Force, and mountaineering teams associated with American Alpine Club. Notable field sites include the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Peru, glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Himalayan sites such as Dunde Ice Cap and Gurla Mandhata, and glaciers in the Bolivian Andes and Ecuadorian Andes. He deployed drilling systems refined through cooperation with Byrd Polar Research Center engineers and international partners including teams from Universidad Mayor de San Andrés and Tibetan Plateau Research Institute to collect multi-century to millennial-length cores.

Scientific contributions and publications

Thompson published extensively in journals and authored chapters for assessment reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and monographs used by researchers at University of Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton University. His work demonstrated links between tropical glacier retreat, anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gas concentrations recorded by ice core trapped air, and regional hydrological changes affecting river basins such as the Ganges, Mekong, and Amazon River. He collaborated with scientists from Pennsylvania State University, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Minnesota, University of Oxford, and Peking University producing datasets used by climate modelers at Met Office and National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Awards, honors, and memberships

Thompson received numerous honors including election to the National Academy of Sciences and awards from organizations such as the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, and the Royal Society's pertinent fellowships. He held positions on advisory boards for the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and international scientific committees associated with International Glaciological Society and PAGES (Past Global Changes). Universities including Columbia University and University of Tokyo awarded honorary distinctions recognizing his contributions to paleoclimate science.

Controversies and criticism

Thompson faced criticism related to field safety, logistical decisions, and interpretations of tropical glacier chronologies by colleagues at University of Arizona, Cornell University, and University of Washington. Debates involved reproducibility of isotopic signals, core dating uncertainties compared against records from Greenland Ice Sheet Project and Antarctic cores, and attribution of moisture source changes linking to teleconnections like the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Some disputes were aired in forums including conferences hosted by American Meteorological Society and publications in journals where independent teams from ETH Zurich and University of Bern discussed alternative interpretations.

Legacy and influence on climate science

Thompson's legacy includes establishing tropical glaciology as a fundamental component of global paleoclimate reconstructions, influencing assessments by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and policy-relevant science at United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change meetings. His datasets underpin contemporary research at institutions like NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, National Snow and Ice Data Center, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and university groups at University of California, Berkeley and Yale University. Many of his students and collaborators hold positions at Ohio State University, Columbia University, University of Colorado Boulder, and international research centers, continuing field programs on glaciers from the Tibetan Plateau to the Andes.

Category:American scientists Category:Glaciologists