Susan Solomon: At the Frontline of Research on the Ozone Layer and Its Role in Earth’s Climate

On May 24, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will award one of the world’s largest scientific prizes to two of the world’s top climate researchers. In the presence of Swedish royalty, MIT professor of atmospheric chemistry Susan Solomon and Princeton University senior meteorologist Syukuro Manabe will receive the 2018 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences—and 6 million kronor, equivalent to about $690,000—for “fundamental contributions to understanding the role of atmospheric trace gases in Earth’s climate system.”

The Crafoord Prize is an annual award established by Swedish industrialist Holger Crafoord and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. The Academy is responsible for selecting the Crafoord Laureates, and the prize is awarded in disciplines that complement those for which Nobel Prizes are awarded.

Dawn Stover from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists spoke with Solomon, who is on the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, about solving the mystery of the ozone hole, ozone's role in climate and policy.

Read the full interview.