Syukuro Manabe

Facts

Syukuro Manabe

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

Syukuro Manabe
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021

Born: 21 September 1931, Shingu, Ehime, Japan

Affiliation at the time of the award: Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

Prize motivation: “for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming”

Prize share: 1/4

Work

Our world is full of complex systems characterised by randomness and disorder. One complex system of vital importance to humankind is Earth’s climate. Syukuro Manabe demonstrated how increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lead to increased temperatures at the surface of the Earth. In the 1960s, he led the development of physical models of the Earth’s climate and was the first person to explore the interaction between radiation balance and the vertical transport of air masses. His work laid the foundation for the development of current climate models.

To cite this section
MLA style: Syukuro Manabe – Facts – 2021. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Thu. 7 Nov 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2021/manabe/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.