Owen Toon

Owen Brian Toon is professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and a fellow at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado.^[1] He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1975; his adviser was Carl Sagan. His research interest is in cloud physics, atmospheric chemistry and radiative transfer. He also works on comparing Earth with other planets such as Venus.

His research on the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs led to the discovery of nuclear winter due to the major decrease in temperature.^[2] The effects of nuclear winter were re-examined in a 2006 presentation at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, where Toon and colleagues found that even a regional nuclear war could prove deadly for a large number of people.^[3] They calculated that as few as 50 detonations of Hiroshima-size bombs could kill as many as 20 million people, although it would not produce a nuclear winter.^[4] The atmospheric effects of a regional nuclear war would last several years, and would be strongest at mid-latitudes, including the United States and Europe.^[5]

He was elected a fellow of the American Meteorological Society in 1990, and a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 1992.^[1]

Selected publications

• Robertson DS, McKenna MC, Toon OB, et al. (2004). "Survival in the first hours of the Cenozoic". Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 116 (5-6): 760–8. doi:10.1130/B25402.1. 
• Brooks SD, Toon OB, Tolbert MA, et al. (2004). "Polar stratospheric clouds during SOLVE/THESEO: Comparison of lidar observations with in situ measurements". J. Geophys. Res. 109 (D2): D02212. Bibcode 2004JGRD..10902212B. doi:10.1029/2003JD003463. 
• Colaprete A, Haberle RM, Toon OB (2003). "Formation of convective carbon dioxide clouds near the south pole of Mars". J. Geophys. Res. 108 (E7): 5081. Bibcode 2003JGRE..108.5081C. doi:10.1029/2003JE002053. 
• Colarco PR, Toon OB, Reid JS, et al. (2003). "Saharan dust transport to the Caribbean during PRIDE: 2. Transport, vertical profiles, and deposition in simulations of in situ and remote sensing observations". J. Geophys. Res. 108 (D19): 8590. Bibcode 2003JGRD..108.8590C. doi:10.1029/2002JD002659. 
• Toon OB (2003). "Atmospheric science - African dust in Florida clouds". Nature 424 (6949): 623–624. doi:10.1038/424623a. PMID 12904770. 
• Ackerman AS, Toon OB, Stevens DE, et al. (2003). "Enhancement of cloud cover and suppression of nocturnal drizzle in stratocumulus polluted by haze". Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (7): 1381. Bibcode 2003GeoRL..30g..34A. doi:10.1029/2002GL016634. 
• Barth EL, Toon OB (2003). "Microphysical modeling of ethane ice clouds in Titan's atmosphere". Icarus 162 (1): 94–113. Bibcode 2003Icar..162...94B. doi:10.1016/S0019-1035(02)00067-2. 

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Owen B. Toon. "Owen B. Toon Biography". http://lasp.colorado.edu/aerosol/toon.bio.2004.pdf. Retrieved 11 March 2009. 
2. ^ Turco, R.P., O.B. Toon, T.P. Ackerman, J.B. Pollack, and C. Sagan (1983). "Nuclear Winter: Global Consequences of Multiple Nuclear Explosions". Science 222 (4630): 1283. doi:10.1126/science.222.4630.1283. PMID 17773320. 
3. ^ John Johnson (13 December 2006). "Global hell of limited nuclear conflict". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/global-hell-of-limited-nuclear-conflict/2006/12/12/1165685679595.html. Retrieved 11 March 2009. "'These results are quite surprising,' Dr Toon said. Regional nuclear conflicts 'can endanger entire populations' the way it was once thought only worldwide conflict could." 
4. ^ Jim Erickson (12 December 2006). "Even limited nuclear war would have global effects, CU prof says". Rocky Mountain News. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5207616,00.html. Retrieved 11 March 2009. "'The current combination of nuclear proliferation, political instability and urban demographics forms perhaps the greatest danger to the stability of society since the dawn of humanity,' Toon said Monday during a news briefing at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco." ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Richard A. Lovett (13 December 2006). "Small Nuclear War Would Devastate Global Climate, Scientists Warn". National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061213-nuclear-war.html. Retrieved 11 March 2009. "'Regional-scale nuclear war can cause casualties similar to those previously predicted for a strategic attack by the U.S.S.R on the U.S.,' Toon said." 

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