Bill Gutowski, ISU professor of geological and atmospheric sciences, has been selected to be a Lead Author for a chapter in the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report. The IPCC is the group that shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with Al Gore.

Gutowski will be part of the team working on the 12th chapter, “Long-term Climate Change: Projections, Commitments and Irreversibility.”

Gutowski has worked climate studies for more than 15 years. His research concentrates on the role of atmospheric dynamics in climate with his central focuses on the dynamics of the hydrologic cycle and regional climate.

This isn’t the first time Gutowski has worked with the IPCC. His research was a part of The IPCC reports, in 2001 and 2007.

In 2007 he was a coordinating lead author of a key chapter for the report titled Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate.

The scientific assessment that year provided the first comprehensive analysis of observed and projected changes in weather and climate extremes in North America and U.S. territories.

Also in 2007, he joined the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program along with two other ISU professors, Ray Arritt, professor of agronomy, and Gene Takle, professor of geological and atmospheric sciences and agronomy.

The researchers created data sets that will help them study the impacts of climate change on a continental or even statewide scale.