In 1940, the meteorologist Carl-Gustaf Rossby came to the University to lead its newly established Institute of Meteorology, which eventually became the Department of Geophysical Sciences. While at UChicago, Rossby advanced revolutionary research in weather forecasting, which included identifying the importance of the jet stream. Rossby and his students’ University of Chicago research also laid the foundation for what is known today as numerical weather and climate prediction, and trained cohorts of professional meteorologists in these cutting-edge efforts on the eve of World War II. Eighty-five years later, this Initiative builds off this work—ensuring it no longer remains in just the wealthier countries who can afford the infrastructure. The Initiative is working to ensure the rest of the world can not only catch up, but surpass the current frontier, by focusing on the needs of those who could most benefit and helping to build the tools to get them there.
UChicago’s Weather Legacy
The Initiative’s work builds off the University of Chicago’s long history of pioneering economic thinking to tackle major societal challenges, as well as the lesser known advances in weather forecasting and climate modeling.