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Scientist discovered threats to Earth's ozone
layer
One of the world's leading scientists responsible for discovering the vulnerability of the Earth's ozone layer to human activities and their byproducts will be speaking at Florida International University and presented with an honorary doctorate. Nobel laureate Mario J. Molina, Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present a lecture -- as part of the 2002 Presidential Lecture Series -- on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Graham Center Ballroom at University Park. In 1974, Molina was co-author (with F. S. Rowland) of an article published in the journal Nature on their research on the threat to the ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases used as propellants in spray cans, as refrigerants and as solvents. The thin layer of ozone in the stratosphere, together with ordinary molecular oxygen, absorbs the major part of the sun's ultraviolet radiation, preventing this dangerous radiation from reaching the Earth's surface. More recently, he has been studying the chemistry of air pollution in the lower atmosphere and is pursuing interdisciplinary work on tropospheric pollution issues, working with colleagues from other disciplines on the problem of rapidly growing cities with severe air pollution problems. He was the recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shared with Professors F. S. Rowland and P. Crutzen for their work in atmospheric chemistry. Molina, who was born in Mexico City, Mexico, holds a chemical engineering degree from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, a postgraduate degree from the University of Freiburg, West Germany, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He came to MIT in 1989 with a joint appointment in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and the Department of Chemistry, and was named MIT Institute Professor in 1997. Prior to joining MIT, Molina held teaching and research positions at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, the University of California, Irvine, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. Molina is a member of the U.S. National Academy
of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the Pontifical Academy
of Sciences. He has served on the U.S. President's Committee of
Advisors in Science and Technology, the Secretary of Energy Advisory
Board, National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies
and Toxicology, and on the boards of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation
of Science and other non-profit environmental organizations. |
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