Prof. Stephen Schneider, one of the truly important voices in climate science, has died.  For over three decades, he had been researching and speaking out on the need to sharply and quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  He died of an apparent heart attack Monday (July 19) while flying from a scientific meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, to London.  His website can be found here.

Schneider was influential in the public debate over climate change and a lead scientist on the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.

Schneider was a lead author of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He and his wife Terry Root, won the 2003 National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation.  Schneider had been a consultant on climate change to the White House under the last seven presidents.

In recent writings, speeches and interviews, Schneider acknowledged the fierceness of the debate over climate change and environmental policies. He recently had become a vocal advocate for scientists becoming more assertive in voicing their conclusions in a ways that would be clear to the public and political and governmental leaders worldwide.

The title of his last book encapsulated the struggle over climate change: “Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth’s Climate.”

More information about Stephen Schneider here. From his last book, he wrote:

“The world is changing. Before our very eyes, we can see the effects of climate change and environmental damage taking shape: shrinking glaciers, both water shortages and excesses, high temperature extremes, hazardous air conditions, and erratic weather patterns leading not only to immense property damage but also to untold human suffering and death—with worse to come if we stay on current path. We know there’s a problem, but spurring the world to action has been a decades-long struggle, and Stephen H. Schneider has been in the front lines [...]