Editing Benjamin D. Santer

{{Short description|American climate researcher}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Benjamin David Santer
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| image             = File:Bensanter.jpg
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| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1955|06|03}}
| birth_place       = [[Washington, DC]]
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| other_names       = 
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = American
| fields            = [[Climatology]]
| workplaces        = [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]]
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| alma_mater        = [[University of East Anglia]]'s [[Climatic Research Unit]]
| thesis_title      = Regional validation of General Circulation Models
| thesis_url        = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59763672
| thesis_year       = 1987
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Tom Wigley]]<ref name=Marketplace/>
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| awards            = [[Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award|E. O. Lawrence Award]] (2002)
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'''Benjamin David Santer''' (born June 3, 1955) was a [[climate researcher]] at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] and former researcher at the [[University of East Anglia]]'s [[Climatic Research Unit]].<ref>[[Fred Pearce|Pearce, Fred]], ''The Climate Files:  The Battle for the Truth about Global Warming'', (2010) [[Guardian Books]], {{ISBN|978-0-85265-229-9}}, p. XI.</ref> He retired from the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] in 2021 and is now a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]]. He also worked at the [[Max Planck Institute for Meteorology]] from 1987 to 1992.<ref name=Marketplace>{{cite web| url=http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/moving-by-degrees/bios/santer.html |title=Dr. Ben Santer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626081737/http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/moving-by-degrees/bios/santer.html | work=Moving By Degrees |publisher=American Public Media |archive-date=June 26, 2010}}</ref> He specializes mainly in [[statistical analysis]] of climate data sets, and detection/attribution of [[Global warming#External forcings|climate change forcings]].

Since 2012, Santer has been listed on the board of directors of the [[National Center for Science Education]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ncse.com/about/board |title=Board of Directors |website=ncse.com |publisher=[[National Center for Science Education]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008223449/https://ncse.com/about/board |archive-date=2012-10-08 |access-date=2018-10-30}}</ref>

==Honors==
Santer received a B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences and a 1987 Ph.D. in climatology from the Climatic Research Unit of the [[University of East Anglia]].<ref name=Marketplace/>

In 1998 Santer was awarded a [[MacArthur Fellowship]] for research supporting the finding that [[Human impact on the environment|human activity]] contributes to global warming.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/594/|title=Benjamin David Santer - MacArthur Foundation|website=www.macfound.org|language=en|access-date=2018-08-12}}</ref> He has also received the [[Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award]] and a Distinguished Scientist Fellowship from the [[U.S. Department of Energy]] and the Norbert Gerbier/MUMM award from the [[World Meteorological Organization]].<ref name=Marketplace/> He ranked twelfth amongst climate scientists in a 2002 assessment of most cited scientists in the field of global warming.<ref>[http://esi-topics.com/gwarm/authors/b1a.html Global Warming Top 25 Overall Ranked by total cites, 1991-August 2001] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927105422/http://esi-topics.com/gwarm/authors/b1a.html |date=2006-09-27 }}, [[Thomson Corporation|Thomson]]</ref> In 2024 he received the [[Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal]] of the American Meteorological Society.<ref>[https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/about-ams/ams-awards-honors/awards/science-and-technology-medals/the-carl-gustaf-rossby-research-medal/ Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal 2024]</ref>

In 2011, Santer was elected as a fellow of the [[American Geophysical Union]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.llnl.gov/news/ben-santer-elected-agu-fellow | title=Ben Santer elected AGU fellow | work=[[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] Website | date=8 April 2011 | access-date=1 August 2013 | author=Stark, Anne M. |archive-date=28 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228120252/https://www.llnl.gov/news/ben-santer-elected-agu-fellow }}</ref> and as a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/3008403.html |title=Benjamin D. Santer |work=Membership Directory|publisher=National Academy of Sciences}}</ref>

== 1995 AR2 Chapter 8 ==
{{main|IPCC Second Assessment Report#Chapter 8: Detection of Climate Change and Attribution of Causes}}

Santer was the convening Lead Author of Chapter 8 of 1995 [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|IPCC]] Working Group I Report (AR2 WGI), which addressed the [[global warming]] issue.<ref name=Marketplace/>

In a June 12, 1996 editorial-page piece in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', [[Frederick Seitz]], chair of the [[George C. Marshall Institute]] and [[Science and Environmental Policy Project]], claimed that alterations made to Chapter 8 of the 1995 IPCC report were made to "deceive policy makers and the public into believing that the scientific evidence shows human activities are causing global warming." Similar charges were made by the [[Global Climate Coalition]] (GCC), a consortium of industry interests; specifically, they accused Santer of "scientific cleansing."<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Gupta | first1 = S. | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1218254109 | title = QnAs with Benjamin D. Santer | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 110 | issue = 1 | page = 3 | year = 2012 | pmid =  23197826| pmc = 3538190| doi-access = free }}</ref>

Santer and 40 other scientists responded to ''The Wall Street Journal'' that all IPCC procedural rules were followed, and that IPCC procedures required changes to the draft in response to comments from governments, individual scientists, and non-governmental organizations. They stated that the pre- and post-Madrid versions of Chapter 8 were equally cautious in their statements; that roughly 20% of Chapter 8 is devoted to the discussion of uncertainties in estimates of natural climate variability and the expected signal due to human activities; and that both versions of the chapter reached the same conclusion: "Taken together, these results point towards a human influence on climate."<ref>[http://www.ucar.edu/communications/quarterly/summer96/insert.html Special insert--An open letter to Ben Santer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626011156/http://www.ucar.edu/communications/quarterly/summer96/insert.html |date=2006-06-26 }}. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Retrieved on 2010-09-14.</ref>

== Gold Standard Paper ==

On February 25, 2019, Santer et al. published the paper ''Celebrating the anniversary of three key events in climate change science'' in ''[[Nature Climate Change]]'', claiming to have reached the 5-sigma "gold standard level" of statistical proof of human influence in global climate change using three sets of satellite data.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures/evidence-for-man-made-global-warming-hits-gold-standard-scientists-idUSKCN1QE1ZU Reuters, "Evidence for man-made global warming hits 'gold standard'": scientists, Feb. 25, 2019]</ref>

==References and notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Santer, BD, Wigley, TML, Barnett TP, and Anyamba, E (1995). Detection of climate change and attribution of causes, in [[John T. Houghton|Houghton, JT]] ''et al.''. ''Climate Change 1995'', Cambridge Univ. Press.
*"Benjamin David Santer." Marquis Who's Who TM. Marquis Who's Who, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. [[Farmington Hills, Michigan]]: [[Gale (Cengage)|Gale]], 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC Document Number: K2017060303. Fee. Accessed 2009-10-22 via [[Fairfax County Public Library]].

==External links==
*[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es063000t The Many Travails of Ben Santer], Paul D. Thacker, ''Environmental Science & Technology''
*[http://esi-topics.com/gwarm/interviews/DrBenjaminDSanter.html 2002 Interview]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060626011156/http://www.ucar.edu/communications/quarterly/summer96/insert.html Communication between Santer and others about Global Warming]
*[https://www.nersc.gov/assets/Annual-Reports/annrep03.pdf National Energy Research Science Computer Center article on Santer (starts page 38)]
*[http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011JD016263.shtml Recent (2011) research by Santer on separating signal and noise in atmospheric temperature changes]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Santer, Benjamin}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:American climatologists]]
[[Category:Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead authors]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of East Anglia]]
[[Category:Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Meteorological Society]]