The November issue of includes a list of 51 local people who made 2014 what it was. Along with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Seahawks team’s “12th man” fans, it includes 91̽»¨glaciologist , whom the magazine dubs the “.”
The magazine notes:
“In the face of global warming, it’s people like Ian Joughin—a glaciologist and affiliate professor of earth and space sciences at 91̽»¨, researching the surface motion and topography of ice fields—who arm us with the information we need if humanity plans to stay put on this planet. In May, Joughin published findings in the journal Science revealing that Antarctica’s western ice sheet already has begun an irreparable meltdown.”
Joughin co-authored the paper showing , causing global seas to rise several feet and as much as 10 feet or more in the coming centuries. Joughin is a glaciologist at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory and affiliate professor in Earth and space sciences.
Media coverage of the result included articles in the , the , the and an interview with Joughin on NPR’s .
Watch a 91̽»¨video where Joughin explains the study (warning: don’t watch this if you need a pick-me-up):