2009 Volvo Environment Prize Goes to Susan Solomon

Susan Solomon, one of the most appreciated atmospheric scientists has been awarded with the 2009 Volvo Environment Prize for important findings on the ozone layer depletion and on the UN climate panel.

Dr Solomon was able to map the mechanisms underlying the hole in the ozone layer and has recently warned that manmade global climate changes may be irreversible.

The Volvo Environment Prize jury, which comprises several leading international researchers, said in their citation: "Dr Susan Solomon is an outstanding atmospheric chemist and physicist whose pioneering scientific contributions have had major impacts on crucial environmental policies."

In recent years, Solomon and many other researchers have focused on the climate change, and together found that the estimated emissions of greenhouse gases in the following decades will lead to irreversible processes. Therefore, if carbon dioxide emissions don't drop sharply, climate change will last more than thirty generations.

Moreover, they confirmed that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are reducing the ozone layer’s capacity to protect humanity from harmful ultraviolet radiation. That led to international agreements that banned the production of CFCs, then used for refrigeration among other things.

Dr Susan Solomon is Senior Scientist at the Chemical Sciences Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Susan Solomon will be in Sweden in early November to receive the Volvo Environment Prize at a ceremony and seminar in Stockholm. As well as the diploma, the winner gets a cash sum of SEK 1.5 million ($190,362).

"I am obviously very honoured. As a scientist, I am able to work with things that other people really care about, which is a privilege that brings humility," Dr Solomon said.