Wilfrid Bach

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Oskar Wilfrid Bach (born February 23, 1936 in Untersuhl ; † June 21, 2015 ) was a German geographer and climatologist . The internationally active university professor was one of the most important pioneers of the theory of global warming .

Life

Wilfrid Bach studied geography from 1956 to 1961 at the Philipps University of Marburg and the University of Sheffield . Then he stayed for his promotion to Ph.D. (Dr. phil.) In the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in Sheffield until 1965. In his dissertation entitled Some Aspects of the Problems of Urban Climatology with Reference to Climate, Types of Weather and Air Pollution in Sheffield , he dealt with issues relating to the urban climate . He then worked at universities in Montreal , Cincinnati , Hawaii and Zurich . In 1975 he followed the call of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität zu Münster as full professor to the chair for atmospheric sciences and director of the research center for applied climatology and environmental studies and the later department for climate and energy research at the Institute for Geography. There he shaped the subject of climatology until his retirement in 2001 . As managing director from 1994 he headed the newly founded Institute for Landscape Ecology . In 1983/1984 he was dean of the mathematics and natural sciences faculty at the Westphalian Wilhelms University.

Tomb of climate researcher Prof. Dr. Wilfrid Bach at the Lauheide forest cemetery with QR code .

Wilfrid Bach, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the last few years of his life and lived in a home in Münster, died on June 21, 2015 at the age of 79. He found his final resting place in the Lauheide forest cemetery .

Services

Wilfrid Bach was one of the pioneers of climatology and energy research and was one of the most important pioneers of the theory of global warming in the 1980s . At the beginning of his scientific career he mainly dealt with aspects of air pollution and air quality , but in the early 1980s he began to warn of a “ CO2 threat ” as a threat to our climate - one of his book titles in 1982. However, at least in Germany at this time, the emerging concern about “ forest dieback ” and the anti-nuclear power movement and later the “ ozone hole ” dominated the public debate. The “influence of the climate by anthropogenic factors” already seen by Bach in the 1970s, on the other hand, did not gain public awareness until the 1990s. Before that, however, Bach had repeatedly called for specific climate protection measures . During this time, the climate researcher focused on drafting climate, environmental and energy concepts on a local and global level and looking for ways to implement them. In the early 1990s, for example, he and his team at the University of Münster developed an integrated energy concept including the corresponding software .

In connection with the research into the causes of climate change, Bach also dealt with the question of the global climatic and ecological effects of a possible nuclear war . In the 1980s, he also spoke out in favor of an “ exit from nuclear power ”.

In the book Climate Protection for the 21st Century: Research, Solutions, Implementation , published in 2000 , Wilfrid Bach not only took stock of his academic working life, but also showed his climate protection visions for the future.

Memberships and social engagement

Bach was one of the 1987-1994 Study Commission "Protecting the Earth's atmosphere" of the Bundestag on. He was also involved as a member of the Advisory Board for Climate and Energy of the City of Münster. He was a member of the Medical Coalition for a Sustainable Global Environment, the Moscow International Energy Club and the Eurosolar interest group .

Fonts

Scientific
  • 1964: Some Aspects of the Problems of Urban Climatology with Reference to Climate, Types of Weather and Air Pollution in Sheffield . Dissertation (2 parts). Sheffield 1964.
  • 1969: Solar Radiation and Atmospheric Turbidity . Kettering Laboratory, Cincinnati 1969.
  • 1972: Atmospheric Pollution (= part of the McGraw-Hill problems series in geography ). McGraw-Hill, New York 1972.
  • 1973: With Anders Daniels : Proposals for a system for monitoring air pollution . Federal Office for Environmental Protection, Bern 1973.
  • 1975: together with Anders Daniels: Handbook of Air Quality in the United States . Oriental, Honolulu 1975.
  • 1976: Changes in the Composition of the Atmosphere and Their Impact Upon Climatic Variability. An Overview (= Issue 24 of the series Bonner Meteorologische Abhandlungen ). Dümmler, Bonn 1976, ISBN 3-427-7584-19 (formally incorrect ISBN).
  • 1980: Investigation of the influence of anthropogenic factors on the climate and (together with Ulrich Hampicke ) the role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle (= issue 6 of the series Münstersche geographical works ). Schöningh, Paderborn 1980, ISBN 3-506-73206-4 .
  • 1985: With Hans-Josef Jung and Heinrich Knottenberg : Modeling the Influence of Carbon Dioxide on the Global and Regional Climate. Methodology and Results (= issue 21 of the series Muenster geographical works ). Schöningh, Paderborn 1985, ISBN 3-506-73221-8 .
  • 1987: Collaboration in: Annotated Bibliography on Geography.
Popular science
Articles, posts, miscellaneous

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g -upm / ch-: A pioneer with courage and foresight - the University of Münster mourns the loss of climate researcher Prof. Dr. Wilfrid Bach - Obituary of the Westphalian Wilhelms University of July 2, 2015; accessed on July 1, 2015
  2. ↑ a b Entry in the database of the German National Library; accessed on July 1, 2015
  3. ↑ The family's obituary in Westfälische Nachrichten of June 25, 2015 (online version, accessed on July 1, 2015)
  4. ↑ Wilfried Bach and Ulrich Hampicke: Investigation of the influence of anthropogenic factors on the climate / The role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle . 1980.
  5. ↑ Short biography at Who's Who ; accessed on July 1, 2015
  6. ↑ for example in his article From Nuclear Night to Nuclear Winter. About the climatic and ecological effects of a nuclear war . In: Wissenschaft & Frieden , No. 2/1985 ( online version ; accessed on July 1, 2015)
  7. ↑ for example in The exit is possible - energy without nuclear power (1986)
personal data
SURNAME Bach, Wilfrid
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bach, Oskar Wilfrid (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geographer and climatologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Lower chair
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 2015