Sir John Houghton | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Sir John Houghton speaking at a climate change conference in 2005 | |
| Born | John Theodore Houghton (1931-12-30)30 December 1931 Dyserth, Wales |
| Died | 15 April 2020(2020-04-15) (aged 88) Dolgellau, Wales |
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | Jesus College, Oxford (BA 1951, MA 1955, DPhil 1955)[1] |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | The Chree Medal and Prize (1979) Japan Prize (2006) Albert Einstein World Award of Science (2009) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Atmospheric physics |
| Institutions | |
Sir John Theodore HoughtonCBE FRS FLSW (30 December 1931 – 15 April 2020) was a Welshatmospheric physicist who was the co-chair of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) scientific assessment working group which shared theNobel Peace Prize in 2007 withAl Gore.[2] He was lead editor of the first three IPCC reports. He was professor inatmospheric physics at theUniversity of Oxford, former Director General at theMet Office and founder of theHadley Centre.[3]
He was the president of theJohn Ray Initiative, an organisation "connecting Environment, Science and Christianity",[4] where he has compared the stewardship of the Earth, to thestewardship of the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve.[5] He was a founding member of theInternational Society for Science and Religion. He became the president of theVictoria Institute in 2005.[6]
Born inDyserth, John Theodore Houghton was the second of the three sons of Sidney and Miriam (née Yarwood) Houghton.[7] His older brother, David (died 2015), became a meteorologist.[8] The third and youngest brother, Paul Houghton, became a lecturer in engineering and was treasurer and company chairman of the John Ray Initiative, connecting the environment, science and Christianity.
The family moved toRhyl when John was two, and he attendedRhyl Grammar School where he discovered his interest in science. He continued his education atJesus College, Oxford, gaining a BA in 1951, MA (Oxon) and DPhil in 1955.[1][9]
He was brought up as an evangelical Christian by devout Christian parents and believed in science and Christianity as strengthening each other, as well asChristianity and environmentalism.[7] Houghton's evangelical Christianity combined with his scientific background made him a significant voice in evangelical Christian circles. He was a supporter of and advisor to the international Christian relief and development agencyTearfund.[10] He was also an elder atAberdovey Presbyterian Church.
In 1962, Houghton married Dr Margaret Broughton, daughter of a mill owner in Colwyn, Lancashire, and they had two children and seven grandchildren. Following her death from cancer in 1986, he set up the Margaret Houghton Memorial Fund, a research unit on medical nursing in her memory. He married his second wife, Sheila Thompson, in 1988.[3][7]
Posts include:
He was knighted in 1991.[3] Houghton was an Honorary Scientist of theHadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research at theMet Office (since 2002); Honorary Scientist at theRutherford Appleton Laboratory (since 1991); a Trustee of theShell Foundation (since 2000); Chairman of the John Ray Initiative (since 1997)[9][12][13] and in 2013 was announced as an Advisory Board member forSure Chill Technology. He moved back to Wales and lived inAberdyfi.[14] In 2007 he criticised the controversial documentaryThe Great Global Warming Swindle for its inaccuracies.[15]
He died of complications fromAlzheimer's disease andCOVID-19 in hospital atDolgellau on 15 April 2020, aged 88.[2][7][16]
He received Honorary Doctorates of Science from the Universities of Wales (1991), Stirling (1992), East Anglia (1993), Leeds (1995), Heriot-Watt (1996), Greenwich (1997), Glamorgan (1998), Reading (1999), Birmingham (2000), Gloucestershire (2001), Hull (2002) and Dalhousie (2010).[25] He was an Honorary Fellow ofJesus College, Oxford,[26]University of Wales, Aberystwyth and ofUniversity of Wales, Lampeter and was also a Founding Fellow of theLearned Society of Wales.[27]
A metal sculpture of Sir John Houghton was erected inRhyl in 2013, together with figures of two other local celebrities, Don Spendlove andMike Peters.[28]
In a November 2006 article in Australia'sThe Daily Telegraph, journalistPiers Akerman quoted Houghton as saying "Unless we announce disasters, no one will listen", attributing the quotation to his 1994 bookGlobal Warming, The Complete Briefing. This has since been quoted by manydeniers, includingBenny Peiser andChristopher Monckton, and is listed at the top of the front page ofChristopher Booker'sThe Real Global Warming Disaster. However, the quotation does not appear in any edition of Houghton's book. Houghton never said any such thing and believed the opposite.[29]The publishers ofThe Real Global Warming Disaster, The Continuum International Publishing Group, apologised for the reference to that quotation, confirmed (in addition to Booker's confirmation) that it will not be repeated, and agreed to place a corrigendum in any further copies of the book.
In an article which appeared inThe Sunday Telegraph on 20 February 2010, Christopher Booker purported to correct the misquotation contained inThe Real Global Warming Disaster but this article contained yet further inaccuracies.[30] As a result, Houghton referred the matter to thePress Complaints Commission (PCC Reference 101959). Following the PCC's involvement,The Sunday Telegraph published on 15 August 2010 a letter of correction by Houghton stating his true position.[31] An article supportive of Houghton also appeared in the edition of 21 May 2010 ofNew Scientist.[32]
The correct quotation was, "If we want a good environmental policy in the future we'll have to have a disaster. It's like safety on public transport. The only way humans will act is if there's been an accident."[33]
