John Houghton (physicist)

Born in Dyserth, John Theodore Houghton was the second of the three sons of Sidney and Miriam (née Yarwood) Houghton. His older brother, David (died 2015), became a meteorologist.[7] The third and youngest brother, Paul Houghton, became a lecturer in engineering and was treasurer and company chairman of the John Ray Initiative, connecting the environment, science and Christianity.

The family moved to Rhyl when John was two, and he attended Rhyl Grammar School where he discovered his interest in science. He continued his education at Jesus College, Oxford, gaining a BA in 1951, MA (Oxon) and DPhil in 1955.[1][8] He was brought up as an evangelical Christian by devout Christian parents and believed in science and Christianity as strengthening each other, as well as Christianity and environmentalism. Houghton's evangelical Christianity combined with his scientific background made him a significant voice in evangelical Christian circles. He was also an elder at Aberdovey Presbyterian Church. In 1962, Houghton married Dr Margaret Broughton, daughter of a mill owner in Colwyn, Lancashire, and they had two children and seven grandchildren. Following her death from cancer in 1986, he set up the Margaret Houghton Memorial Fund, a research unit on medical nursing in her memory.[3] His second wife, Sheila, became his companion for almost thirty years.[3]

Posts include:

• a Member of the UK Government Panel on Sustainable Development (1994–2000)[9]
• Chairman, Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (1992–98)[9]
• Chairman or Co-Chairman, Scientific Assessment Working Group, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1988–2002)[3]
• Director General (later Chief Executive), UK Meteorological Office (1983–91)[3]
• Director Appleton, Science and Engineering Research Council (also Deputy Director, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)(1979–83)[9]
• Professor of Atmospheric Physics, Oxford University (1973–83).[9]

He was knighted in 1991.[3] Houghton was an Honorary Scientist of the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research at the Met Office (since 2002); Honorary Scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (since 1991); a Trustee of the Shell Foundation (since 2000); Chairman of the John Ray Initiative (since 1997)[10][11][12] and in 2013 was announced as an Advisory Board member for Sure Chill Technology. He moved back to Wales and lived in Aberdyfi.[13] In 2007 he criticised the controversial documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle for its inaccuracies.[14]

He died of complications from COVID-19 on 15 April 2020, aged 88.[15][2]

• Albert Einstein World Award of Science (2009)[16]
• Japan Prize (2006)[3]
• International Meteorological Organization Prize (1998)[17]
• American Meteorological Society, Honorary Member (1998)[18]
• Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1995)[3]
• Global 500 Award, under the United Nations Environmental Programme (1994)[9]
• Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society, (1991)[9]
• Symons Gold Medal, Royal Meteorological Society (1990)[19]
• Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize, Institute of Physics, (1990)[20]
• William Gaskell Medal of the Royal Meteorological Society, (1983)[21]
• The Chree medal and prize (1979)[22]
• President of the Royal Meteorological Society (1976–1978)[18]
• Elected Fellow of the Royal Society (1972)[3]

He received Honorary Doctorates of Science from the Universities of Wales (1991), Stirling (1992), East Anglia (1993), Leeds (1995), Heriot-Watt (1996), Greenwich (1997), Glamorgan (1998), Reading (1999), Birmingham (2000), Gloucestershire (2001), Hull (2002) and Dalhousie (2010).[23] He was an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford,[24] University of Wales, Aberystwyth and of University of Wales, Lampeter and was also a Founding Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.[25]

A metal sculpture of Sir John Houghton was erected in Rhyl in 2013, together with figures of two other local celebrities, Don Spendlove and Mike Peters.[26]

• Does God Play Dice? 1988, Intervarsity Press[9]
• Global Warming, the Complete Briefing, 1994, Lion Publishing (2nd edition 1997, Cambridge University Press; 3rd edition 2004, Cambridge University Press; 4th edition 2010, Cambridge University Press; 5th edition 2015, Cambridge University Press)[3]
• The search for God; can science help? 1995, Lion Publishing[9]
• Physics of Atmospheres, 1977. 2nd edition 1986, 3rd edition 2002, Cambridge University Press.
• Climate Change, the IPCC Scientific Assessment, eds J.T. Houghton, G.J. Jenkins and J.J. Ephraums, 1990, Cambridge University Press[9]
• Climate Change 1992, the Supplementary Report to the IPCC Scientific Assessment, eds. J.T. Houghton, B.A. Callander and S.K. Varney, 1992, Cambridge University Press[9]
• Climate Change 1994, Radiative Forcing of Climate Change and an Evaluation of the IPCC IS92 Emission Scenarios, eds. J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, J. Bruce, Hoesung Lee, B.A. Callander, E. Haites, N. Harris and K. Maskell, 1994, Cambridge University Press[9]
• Climate Change 1995, the Science of Climate Change, eds. J.T. Houghton, L.G. Meira Filho, B.A.Callander, N. Harris, A. Kattenberg and K. Maskell, 1995, Cambridge University Press[9]
• Climate Change 2001, The Scientific Basis, eds J.T. Houghton, Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden, X. Dai, K. Maskell, C.A. Johnson, 2001 Cambridge University Press[9]

In a November 2006 article in Australia's The Daily Telegraph, journalist Piers Akerman quoted Houghton as saying "Unless we announce disasters, no one will listen", attributing the quotation to his 1994 book Global Warming, The Complete Briefing. This has since been quoted by many sceptics, including Benny Peiser and Christopher Monckton, and is listed at the top of the front page of Christopher Booker's The Real Global Warming Disaster. However, the quotation does not appear in any edition of Houghton's book. Houghton never said any such thing and believed the opposite.[27] The publishers of The Real Global Warming Disaster, The Continuum International Publishing Group, apologised for the reference to that quotation, confirmed (in addition to Booker's confirmation) that it will not be repeated, and agreed to place a corrigendum in any further copies of the book. In an article which appeared in The Sunday Telegraph on 20 February 2010, Christopher Booker purported to correct the misquotation contained in The Real Global Warming Disaster but this article contained yet further inaccuracies.[28] As a result, Houghton referred the matter to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC Reference 101959). Following the PCC's involvement, The Sunday Telegraph published on 15 August 2010 a letter of correction by Houghton stating his true position.[29] An article supportive of Houghton also appeared in the edition of 21 May 2010 of New Scientist.[30]

The correct quotation was, "If we want a good environmental policy in the future we'll have to have a disaster. It's like safety on public transport. The only way humans will act is if there's been an accident."[31]

• "Global warming is getting worse – but the message is getting through" (August 2004) and "Global warming is now a weapon of mass destruction" (July 2003) from The Guardian
• Overview of Climate Change, 2002
• Global warming – science, impacts and politics, lecture 2001
• Evidence to Select Committee on Science and Technology, 2000
• Biography; publications list