Group

MIT EAPS Directory

Susan Solomon

Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies, Chair of the Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate

Secondary Appointment - Chemistry

Website

Susan Solomon is internationally recognized as a leader in atmospheric science, particularly for her insights in explaining the cause of the Antarctic ozone "hole". She and her colleagues have made important contributions to understanding chemistry/climate coupling, including leading research on the irreversibility of global warming linked to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, and on the influence of the ozone hole on the climate of the southern hemisphere. Her current focus is on issues relating to both atmospheric chemistry and climate change.

Wikipedia

Bio

Publications

2022

Wang, M., Fu, Q., Solomon, S., Alexander, B., White, R.H., Stratosphere-troposphere exchanges of air mass and ozone concentration in the Last Glacial Maximum, in press, Journal of Geophysical Research, 2022.

Solomon, S., Dube, K., Stone, K., Yu, P., Kinnison, D., Toon, O.B., Strahan, S. E., Rosenlof, K. H., Portmann, R., Davis, S., Randel, W., Beranth, P., Boone, C., Bardeen, C. G., Bourassa, A., Zawada, D., Degenstein, D., On the stratospheric chemistry of mid-latitude wildfire smoke, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (10) e2117325119, 2022. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2117325119

2021

Wilka, C., Solomon, S., Cronin, T.W., Kinnison, D., Garcia, R., Atmospheric Chemistry Signatures of an Equatorially Symmetric Matsuno-Gill Circulation Pattern, Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 79 (1), 107-116, 2021. doi: 10.1175/JAS-D-20-0025.1

Solomon, S., Risks to the stratospheric ozone shield in the Anthropocene, Ambio, 50 (1) 44-48, 2021. doi: 10.1007/s13280-020-01431-8

Wilka, C., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D., Tarasick, D., An Arctic Ozone Hole in 2020 If Not For the Montreal Protocol, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 21 (20) 15771-15781, 2021. doi: 10.5194/acp-21-15771-2021

Zhang, L. N., Solomon, S., Stone, K. A., Shanklin, J. D. Eveson, J. D., Colwell, S., Burrows, J. P., Weber, M., Levelt, P. F., Kramarova, N. A., Haffner, D. P., On the use of satellite observations to fill gaps in the Halley station total ozone record, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 21 (12) 9829-9838, 2021. doi: 10.5194/acp-21-9829-2021

Solomon, S., Paul J. Crutzen (1933-2021), Science, 371 (6532) 892, 2021. doi: 10.1126/science.abh0217

Lickley, M., Fletcher, S., Rigby, M., Solomon, S., Joint inference of CFC lifetimes and banks suggests previously unidentified emissions, Nature Communications, 12 (2920), 2021. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23229-2

Santer, B. D., Po-Chedley, S., Mears, C., Fyfe, J. C., Gillett, N., Fu, Q., Painter, J. F., Solomon, S., Steiner, A. K., Wentz, F. J., Zelinka, M. D., Zou, C., Using Climate Model Simulations to Constrain Observations, Journal of Climate, 34 (15) 6281-6301, 2021. doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0768.1

Lickley, M., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D., Krummel, P., Muhle, J., O’Dherty, S., Prinn, R., Rigby, M., Stone, K. A., Wang, P., Weiss, R., Young, D., Quantifying the Imprints of Stratospheric Contributions to Interhemispheric Differences in Tropospheric CFC-11, CFC-12, and N20 Abundances, Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (15), 2021. doi: 10.1029/2021GL093700

Zambri, B., Solomon, S., Thompson, D. W. J., Fu. Q., Emergence of Southern Hemisphere stratospheric circulation changes in response to ozone recovery, Nature Geoscience, 14 638-644, 2021. doi: 10.1038/s41561-021-00803-3

Francelino, M. R., Schaefer, C., de Los Milagros Skansi, M., Colwell, S., Bromwich, D. H., Jones, P., King, J. C., Lazzara, M. A., Renwick, J., Solomon, S., Brunet, M., Cerveny, R. S., WMO Evalutation of Two Extreme High Temperatures Occurring in February 2020 for the Antarctic Peninsula Region, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 102 (11), 2021. doi: 10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0040.1

Polvani, L. M., Banerjee, A., Chemke, R., Doddridge, E. W., Ferreira, D., Gnanadesikan, A., Holland, M. A., Kostov, Y., Marshall, J., Seviour, M., Solomon, S., Waugh, D. W., Interannual SAM Modulation of Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Does Not Account for Its Long-Term Trends, Pointing to a Limited Role for Ozone Depletion, Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (21), 2021. doi: 10.1029/2021GL094871

Rieger, L. A., Randel, W. J., Bourassa, A. E., Solomon, S., Stratospheric Temperature and Ozone Anomalies Associated With the 2020 Australian New Year Fires, Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (24), 2021. doi: 10.1029/2021GL095898

Wang, P., Scott, J.R., Solomon, S., Marshall, J., Babbin, A., Lickley, M., Thompson, D.W.J., DeVries, T., Liang, Q., Prinn, R.G., On the Effect of the Ocean on Atmospheric CFC-11 Lifetimes And Emissions. In press, 2021.

Solomon, S., Risks to the stratospheric ozone shield in the Anthropocene, Ambio, 50 (1), 44-48, 2021. Link to Article

2020

Stone, K., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D.E., Prediction of Northern Hemisphere Regional Sea Ice Extent and Snow Depth Using Stratospheric Ozone Information, JGR Atmospheres, 125 (22), 2020. Link to Article

Shah, K.S., Solomon, S., Thompson, D.W.J., Kinnison, D.E., Evaluating stratospheric tropical width using tracer concentrations, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 125 (21), 2020. Link to Article

Wang, M., Fu, Q., Solomon, S., White, R.H., Alexander, B., Stratospheric Ozone in the Last Glacial Maximum, JGR Atmospheres, 125 (21), 2020. Link to Article

Yook, S., Thompson, DWJ., Solomon, S., Kim, SY., The Key Role of Coupled Chemistry-Climate Interactions in Tropical Stratospheric Temperature Variability, Journal of Climate, 33 (17) 7619-7629, 2020. Link to Article

Solomon, S., Alcamo, J., Ravishankara, AR., Unfinished business after five decades of ozone-layer science and policy, Nature Communications, 11 (1) 1-4, 2020. Link to Article

DeLisi, C., Patrinos, A., MacCracken, M., Drell, D., Annas, G., Arkin, A., Church, G., Cook-Deegan, R., Jacoby, H., Lidstrom, M., Melillo, J., Milo, R., Paustian, K., Reilly, J., Roberts, R., Segre, D., Solomon, S., Woolf, D., Wullschleger, S., Yang, X., The Role of Synthetic Biology in Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Prospects and Challenges, BioDesign Research, vol. 2020, 8 pages, 2020. Link to Article

Zambri, B., Kinnison, D.E., Solomon, S., Subpolar activation of halogen heterogeneous chemistry in austral spring, Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (2), 2020. Link to Article

Mattauch, L., Matthews, HD., Millar, R., Rezai, A., Solomon, S., Venmans, F., Steering the climate system: Using inertia to lower the cost of policy: Comment, American Economic Review, 110 (4) 1231-37, 2020. Link to Article

Lickley, M., Solomon, S., Fletcher, S., Velders, GJM., Daniel, J., Rigby, M., Montzka, S., Kuijpers, JM., Stone, K., Quantifying contributions of chlorofluorocarbon banks to emissions and impacts on the ozone layer and climate, Nature Communications, 11 (1) 1-11, 2020. Link to Article

Fu, Q., White, R., Wang, M., Alexander, B., Solomon, S., Gettelman, A., Battisti, D., Lin, P., The Brewer-Dobson circulation during the Last Glacial Maximum, Geophysical Research Letters, 47 (3) e2019GL086271, 2020. Link to Article

2019

Stone, K.A., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D.E., Baggett, C.F., Barnes, E.A., Prediction of Northern Hemisphere regional surface temperatures using stratospheric ozone information, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 124 (12) 5922-5933, 2019. Link to Article

Lickley, M., Cael, B.B., Solomon, S., Time of Steady Climate Change, Geophysical Research Letters, 46 (10) 5445-5451, 2019. Link to Article

Abalos, M., Polvani, L., Calvo, N., Kinnison, D., Ploeger, F., Randel, W., Solomon, S., New Insights on Impact of Ozone-Depleting Substances on the Brewer-Dobson Circulation, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124 (5) 2435-2451, 2019. Link to Article

Zambri, B., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D.E., Mills, M.J., Schmidt, A., Neely III, R.R., Bourassa, A.E., Degenstein, D.A., Roth, C.Z., Modeled and Observed Volcanic Aerosol Control on Stratospheric NOy and CLy, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2019. Link to Article

Gilford, D.M., Solomon, S., Emanuel, K., Seasonal Cycles of Along-Track Tropical Cyclone Maximum Intensity, Monthly Weather Review, 147, 2417-2432, 2019. Link to Article

Santer, B.D., Fyfe, J.C., Solomon, S., Painter, J.F., Bonfils, C., Pallotta, G., Zelinka, M.D., Quantifying stochastic uncertainty in detection time of human-caused climate signals, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (40), 19821-19827, 2019. Link to Article

Lickley, M., Cael, B.B., Solomon, S., Time of Steady Climate Change, Geophysical Research Letters, v.46 (10) 5445-5451, 2019. Link to Article

Gilford, D.M., Solomon, S., Emanuel, K., Seasonal Cycles of Along-Track Tropical Cyclone Maximum Intensity, Monthly Weather Review, v.147, 2417-2432, 2019. Link to Article

2018

Santer, B.D., Thorne, P.W., Haimberger, L., Taylor, K.E., Wigley, T.M.L, Lanzante, J.R., Solomon, S., Free, M., Gleckler, P.J., Jones, P.D., Karl, T.R., Klein, S.A., Mears, C., Nychka, D., Schmidt, G.A., Sherwood, S.C., Wentz, F.J., Consistency of Modeled and Observed Temperature Trends in the Tropical Troposphere, Climate Modeling, 85-136, 2018. Link to Article

Bandoro, J., S. Solomon, B. D. Santer, D. E. Kinnison, and M. J. Mills, Detectability of the Impacts of Ozone Depleting Substances and Greenhouse Gases upon Stratospheric Ozone Accounting for Nonlinearities in Historical Forcings, Atm. Chem. Phys., 18 (1), 143-66, 2018. Link to Article

Stone, K. A., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D.E., On the Identification of Ozone Recovery, Geophysical Research Letters, v.45 (10) 5158-5165, 2018. Link to Article

Kaplan, M.B., Solomon, S., Response to rejoinder to: MB Kaplan, S. Solomon, A coming boom in commercial shipping? The potential for rapid growth of noise from commercial ships by 2030, Mar. Policy 73 (Supplement C) (2016) 119–121, Marine Policy, v. 93 (54), 2018. Link to Article

Santer, B.D., Po-Chedley, S., Zelinka, M.D., Cvijanovic, I., Bonfils, C., Durack, P.J., Fu, Q., Kiehl, J., Mears, C., Painter, J., Pallotta, G., Solomon, S., Wentz, F.J., Zou, C., Human influence on the seasonal cycle of tropospheric temperature, Science, v.361, (6399), 2018. Link to Article

Wilka, C., Shah, K., Stone, K., Solomon, S., Kinnison, D., Mills, M., Schmidt, A., Neely III, R.R., On the role of heterogeneous chemistry in ozone depletion and recovery, Geophysical Research Letters, v. 45 (15) 7835-7842, 2018. Link to Article

Fogt, R.L., Jones, M.E., Goergens, C.A., Solomon, S., Jones, J.M., Reply to “Comment on ‘An Exceptional Summer During the South Pole Race of 1911/12’”, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, v. 99 (10) 2143-2145, 2018. Link to Article

Lickley, M., Solomon, S., Drivers, timing and some impacts of global aridity change, Environmental Research Letters, v. 13, (10), 2018. Link to Article

Lickley, M., Solomon S., On the relative influences of different ocean basin sea surface temperature anomalies on southern African rainfall in 20th and 21st century general circulation model simulations, International Journal of Climatology, 38, 5003-5009, 2018. Link to Article

Awards

Honorary fellow, Royal Meteorological Society, UK (2017) | Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship, National Academy of Sciences (2017) | Honorary doctorate, University of British Columbia, November (2015) | Honorary Doctorate, Brown University (2015) | Illinois Institute of Technology Hall of Fame (2015) | Honorary Doctorate, University of British Columbia (2015) |Honorary Doctorate, Leeds University (2013) | BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Prize, BBVA Foundation (2013) | Honorary Member, American Polar Society, (2013) | Vetlesen Prize, Vetlesen Foundation (2013) | Honorary Member, American Meteorological Society (2012) | Honorary Doctorate, Smith College (2012) | Chevalier, Legion d’honneur, Republique de France (2010) | Career Achievement Award, Service to America Awards of the Partnership for Public Service (2010) | Honorary Doctorate, University of Athens (2010) | Listed by Good Housekeeping Magazine as one of the 125 women who changed the world (2010) | Honorary Doctorate, University of Paris (2010) | Member, National Women’s Hall of Fame (2009) | Volvo Environment Prize (2009) | Honorary Doctorate, Reading University, UK (2009) | Honorary Doctorate, University of Pennsylvania (2009) | Member, National Women’s Hall of Fame (2009) | Honorary Fellow, The Geological Society of London (2008) | Fellow, Royal Society of London (2008) | Fellow, American Philosophical Society (2008) | John Scott Award, John Scott Foundation Trust (2008) | Listed by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008 | Grande Medaille, Academie des Sciences de France (2008) | American Geological Institute Award for Advancing Public Understanding of the Geosciences (2008) | Distinguished Presidential Rank Award (2008) | The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [Susan Solomon served as co-chair] and Mr. Albert Gore, Junior (2007) | Lemaitre Prize, Foundation Georges Lemaitre, Brussels, Belgium (2007) | Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union (2007) | Lowell Thomas Award, Explorers Club, New York (2007) | Goldschmidt Award, Geochemical Society (2006) | Honorary Doctorate, Northwestern University (2006) | Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (2006) | UNEP/ WMO Vienna Convention Award for outstanding contributions to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (2005) | Honorary Fellow, International Polar Foundation (2005) | Blue Planet Laureate, Asahi Glass Foundation, Tokyo, Japan (2004) | Honorary Doctorate, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK (2004) | Honorary Doctorate, University of Miami (2003) | Distinguished Presidential Rank Award (2003) | Gold Medal, Department of Commerce, for contributions as lead author of the 3rd Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2002) | Weizmann Women and Science Award, presented at Rockefeller University (2002) | Honorary Doctorate, SUNY at Stony Brook (2001) | Honorary Doctorate, Illinois Institute of Technology (2001) | U. S. National Medal of Science (2000) | Foreign Member, Academia Europaea (2000) | Carl-Gustaf Rossby Award, American Meteorological Society (2000) | Co-Recipient, Climate Protection Award of the Environmental Protection Agency (1998) | United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Award for key contributions to the development of the Montreal Protocol (1997) | Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award of the Environmental Protection Agency (1996) | Honorary Doctorate, Williams College, Williamstown, MA (1996) | Associé Étranger (Foreign Associate), Academie des Sciénces de France (1995) | Solomon Glacier (78°23’S, 162°30’E) and Solomon Saddle (78°23’S, 162°39’E) were named in honor of leadership in Antarctic research (1994) | Honorary Doctorate, Tulane University (1994) | Arthur S. Flemming Award for excellence in government service (1994) | Honorary Doctorate, University of Colorado at Boulder (1993) | Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1993) | Scientist of the Year, R&D Magazine, Cahners Publications (1992) | Member, National Academy of Sciences (1992) | Common Wealth Award for Excellence in Science and Invention (1992) | Henry Houghton Award, American Meteorological Society (1991) | Gold Medal for exceptional service, U. S. Department of Commerce (1989) | James B. MacElwane Award, American Geophysical Union (1985) | University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Fellow (1977-1978) | Fellow, American Geophysical Union | Fellow, American Meteorological Society | Fellow Royal Meteorological Society