2007-9-11

Paul J. Crutzen,1933-
An atmospheric chemist of Netherlands
Currently working for Max Planck Institute of Chemistry

In 1995, he, together with Mario J. Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for clarifying the damage caused by artificial chemical substances to the ozonosphere and its chemical mechanism. This is the first Nobel Prize in the environmental science.

Because of the caution from the results of ozone research, an international conference was held by the United Nations in Montreal, Canada, in 1987, where the "Protocol on Ozonosphere Protection Treaty" was signed, greatly promoting the human common protection of the atmospheric environment.

Crutzen highlights the research on the natural photochemistry mode and human-damaged photochemistry mode of stratospheric ozone and troposphere ozone. During the research, he also found that bio-material combustion, especially those in the equator region in a dry season, constitutes an important reason for vast atmospheric pollution and may also cause an impact on global climate. Crutzen also introduced the concept of the "Human Being's Epoch", namely a new geological period in which the environment is receiving more and more influence of human activities. Putting forward the ¡°Human Being¡¯s Epoch¡± is not only a leap of geology but also a leap of human existence and development philosophy.