David King (chemist)

David king (2009)

Sir David Anthony King (born August 12, 1939 in South Africa ) is a British chemist and university professor. From 2000 to 2007 he was Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government . Since September 2013 he has been a permanent advisor to the UK Foreign Office on global warming issues .

Life

King studied at Witwatersrand University and was active in the anti- apartheid movement in his youth . After academic activities at the Witwatersrand University, Imperial College and the University of East Anglia , he received a professorship in physical chemistry at the University of Liverpool in 1974 . In 1988 he became Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge . From 1993 to 2000 he was director of the local institute for chemistry, and from 1995 to 2000 director of Downing College . From 2000 to 2010 he was Research Director of the Institute for Chemistry.

In 2000, he was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) to the UK Prime Minister and Head of the Government Office for Science , succeeding Sir Robert May . In this position, which he held until the end of 2007, he made various governments (including the USA, Russia, China and Japan) aware of the need for climate protection measures and the signing of the Kyoto Protocol . Together with Hans Joachim Schellnhuber , he also obtained the support of Queen Elisabeth II. In addition, King was instrumental in founding the Energy Technologies Institute .

Since January 2008 King has been Director of the newly established Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford , and since December 2009 Chancellor of the University of Liverpool .

King is director of the Collegio Carlo Alberto, member of the Climate Change Task Force and scientific advisor to the Swiss investment bank UBS . He is also a science advisor to Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and an advisor to EU commissioners on scientific development in Africa . Since September 2013 he has been climate advisor to British Foreign Minister William Hague .

King is the author of over 500 scientific articles.

Attitude to global warming

King believes global warming is the most important issue our civilization has encountered so far. In his opinion, the threat from global warming is considerably greater than the threat from international terrorism. In 2004 he criticized the US administration under George W. Bush for failing to meet the challenge of global warming. King emphasizes the need to move from fossil fuels to renewable energies , especially solar energy .

Awards and memberships

King has been a member of the Royal Society since 1991 , an honorary member of the Indian Academy of Sciences since 1998 , and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2002 . In 2003 he was selected by Queen Elizabeth II. For his scientific achievements to Knight Bachelor beaten . In 2009 he received the Officier dans l'ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur from the French President for his work on climate change and the negotiation of an international agreement on the ITER fusion reactor . King received a total of 22 honorary degrees from universities in different countries.

Works

• David King, Gabrielle Walker: Really hot. The challenges of climate change. Berlin Verlag , Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8270-0766-7 .
• Oliver Inderwildi, David King: Energy, Transport, & the Environment . Springer Verlag , London, New York, Heidelberg, ISBN 978-1-4471-2716-1 .

Web links

• Literature by and about David King in the catalog of the German National Library
• Sir David King on Twitter
• The Climate Change Task Force: Blog Posts by Sir David King
• David King: Twenty First Century Challenges. A New Epoch? Lecture (video, 76 min) on October 23, 2009, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin, Italy.
• David King: Improving human well-being on a resource-limited planet - can we do it? Lecture (video, 53 min) on May 31, 2013. Australian Academy of Science .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ David King on omnilexica.com. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Royal Society of Chemistry : Lord Lewis Prize 2012 Winner . Retrieved July 5, 2014.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Special Representative for Climate Change: Sir David King on gov.uk. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Krönig: Advice in the balancing act . In: The time . July 7, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
5. ^ Climate fears for rising waters . In: BBC . January 14, 2004. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
6. ↑ US must act over climate says Queen . In: The Observer . October 31, 2004. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
7. ^ The University of Oxford and Sir David King create School of Enterprise and the Environment . University of Oxford . November 29, 2007. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
8. ^ ^{A b} Sir David King appointed Liverpool Chancellor . news.liv.ac.uk. November 23, 2009. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
9. ↑ Sir David King . The Climate Change Task Force. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
10. ↑ UBS hires former UK chief science adviser . reuters.com. April 11, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
11. ↑ Sir David King: Twenty First Century Challenges. A New Epoch? Lecture (video, 76 min) on October 23, 2009, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin, Italy. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
12. ↑ Global warming 'biggest threat' . In: BBC . January 9, 2004. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
13. ↑ Scientist renews climate attack . In: BBC . March 31, 2004. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
14. ^ David King, Richard Layard : We must harness the power of the sun . In: The Observer . September 29, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2014.