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Professor

Nathan Bindoff

Australian Antarctic Program Partnership - Program Leader

Australian Antarctic Program Partnership

Orcid identifier0000-0001-5662-9519
  • Australian Antarctic Program Partnership - Program Leader
    Australian Antarctic Program Partnership
  • +61 3 6226 2973 (Fax)
  • +61 3 6226 2986 (Work)
  • Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, 224 IMAS Waterfront Building, Off-Campus

BIO

How has the earth changed? Why has the earth changed? What does it mean for the future? Professor Nathaniel Bindoff is one of the world's leading climate change scientists, and he's helping to answer these questions. His area of expertise is physical oceanography.
Global warming is unequivocal

'When I commenced my career, the question of whether the ocean state had changed was completely open. It was a voyage of discovery,' said Professor Bindoff.

He has been studying signals of change in the ocean, like oxygen levels, temperature and salinity, from measurements from the 1970s to the present. He is now one of the lead authors contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that are informing world leaders on climate policy.

'I like doing relevant science and I like storytelling. Being able to answer important questions on behalf of society is a privilege. Being able to articulate that story, by converting the scientific observations into usable information for the basis of policy decisions, is vital.'

Professor Bindoff was the coordinating lead author on the oceans chapter in the fourth IPCC assessment report and the detection and attribution chapter in the fifth IPCC report. He was awarded a certificate for his contribution to the IPCC and Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. The 2007 report marked the turning point in discussion on climate change globally.

The IPCC reports provide an assessment of the science that relates to climate change globally. A summary document is then prepared for policy makers, with each line agreed on by 110 nations.

Professor Bindoff and his colleagues developed the famous statement 'Global warming is unequivocal.'

'We now know that an increase in greenhouse gases due to human activity has changed the planet. The result is a rise in temperatures globally and an accelerated water cycle in the atmosphere. The oceans are our best source of evidence for these changes. We can estimate what the temperature rise will be. We also know what we need to do to keep within a safe range. Essentially, the scientific problem is solved.'

'We think a 2° rise in temperatures is safe enough for most things. This was built into the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) back in the 1990s. But if the temperatures rose by 3°or more, sea levels could rise by 3–4 meters and Greenland could disappear. There would be at least a 20% increase in fire danger and catastrophic fire events would be more likely to occur,' said Professor Bindoff.

The IPCC reports provide the foundation for discussions amongst the world's governments. The discussions result in commitments to keep greenhouse gas emissions within the safe range.

The University of Tasmania is the epicenter for climate change research in Australia and has led the world in many areas of this research. Hobart is home to three coordinating lead authors of the IPCC reports, more than any other city in the world.

Professor Bindoff said that the polar regions are where the greatest changes are happening. 'We're in an ideal position to do great science on that.'

Professor Bindoff is a physical oceanographer in the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS). His focus is on detecting and understanding the causes of change in the oceans. He was the coordinating lead author for the Fourth and Fifth Assessment Reports from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. He led the oceans chapter (2007) and the detection and attribution chapter (2013). Nathan is one of just a few scientists who have been a coordinating lead author twice and contributed to the IPCC winning the Noble Peace Prize in 2007, shared with Al Gore. His research has involved documenting the first evidence for changes in the Indian, North Pacific, South Pacific and Southern Ocean's, and the earth's hydrological cycle from ocean salinity. His most recent work is on documenting the decline in oxygen content of the oceans and projecting the future climate over the Australian continents and impacts. All of these global changes have been attributed to human activity.

Biography

2014-2017: Head, Oceans and Cryosphere, IMAS, University of Tasmania
2010-2013: Coordinating Lead Author, IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, Chapter 10: Detection and Attribution of Climate Change: from Global to Regional
2008-pres: Program leader: Climate Futures program in ACE CRC
2010-2013: Climate Change and Ocean Process Program Leader IMAS
2007-pres: Professor, Physical Oceanography, joint position University of Tasmania and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
2000-pres: Director, Tasmanian Partnership for Advanced Computing (TPAC)

Career summary

Qualifications
1983 BSc (Hons.), University of Tasmania
1989 PhD, Electromagnetic induction by oceanic sources in the Tasman Sea, Australian National University

Memberships

Committee associations
American Meteorological Society
American Geophysical Union
Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society

Administrative expertise

Program leader, Climate Futures for Tasmania
Chairman, Board of Australian Research Collaboration Services
Head, Ocean and Cryosphere, IMAS
Deputy Leader NESP Earth Systems Science Hub
Member, Royal New Zealand Society, Marsden Grants

SCHOOL AND PORTFOLIO

  • Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

FIELD OF RESEARCH