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Gordon Hamilton (scientist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gordon Hamilton (c. 1966 – 22 October 2016) was a Scottish climate scientist who studied glaciers.[1] He died on a trip to Antarctica in 2016 when his snowmobile fell into a crevasse. He was 50 at the time of his death.[2]

Career

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Native to Scotland, Hamilton received a doctorate from the University of Cambridge in geophysics. He was a professor of the University of Maine.[citation needed] He studied ice sheet mass balance as well as the role of ice sheets in modulating global sea levels. [3]

A 2010 article in The New York Times documented the danger involved in Hamilton's field work, noting that climate scientists including Hamilton and others were willing to take risks in order to retrieve temperature data that is essential to their work.[4]

Hamilton Glacier

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The Hamilton Glacier on the Antarctic Edward VII Peninsula was named after him in 2003.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Justin Gillis (24 October 2016). "For Gordon Hamilton, a Life of Discovery and Danger". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Famed British climate scientist Gordon Hamilton plunges to his death in Antarctica crevasse". The Washington Post. 25 October 2016 – via South China Morning Post.
  3. ^ "Gordon Hamilton". PolarTREC. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  4. ^ Justin Gillis (13 November 2010). "As Glaciers Melt, Science Seeks Data on Rising Seas". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Hamilton Glacier". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 18 May 2012.