Cliff Mass
{{Short description|American college professor, author, weather commentator}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Cliff Mass
| image = Cliff Mass in Seattle (cropped).jpeg
| caption = Mass in 2011
| birth_name = Clifford F. Mass
| birth_date = 1952/53{{cite news |last1=Henderson |first1=Diedtra |title=Mass Appeal -- UW Meteorologist Cliff Mass Not Only Knows His Science; He's Also A Whiz At Getting It Across To The Public |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19960319/2319786/mass-appeal |access-date=August 2, 2019 |publisher=Seattle Times |date=March 19, 1996}}
| birth_place = Far Rockaway, New York
| field = Atmospheric Sciences
| alma_mater = Cornell University (B.S.)
University of Washington (Ph.D.)|
}}
Clifford F. Mass is an American professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. His research focuses on numerical weather modeling and prediction, the role of topography in the evolution of weather systems, regional climate modeling, and the weather of the Pacific Northwest. He is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society, past-president of the Puget Sound American Meteorological Society chapter, and past chair of the College of the Environment College Council.
His book The Weather of the Pacific Northwest is one of the best-selling titles from the University of Washington Press.{{Cite news|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/books/article/Northwest-climate-book-s-sales-snowball-1295790.php|title=Northwest climate book's sales snowball|work=seattlepi.com|access-date=2018-03-16}} He maintains a popular weather blog and gives frequent public lectures on topics ranging from Washington State weather history to the impact of climate change on global and regional weather patterns. He formerly had standing engagements to speak on Seattle-area public radio stations KUOW and KNKX before each of these stations chose to discontinue their relationships with Mass due to Mass's comments on non-weather-related topics.
Education
Mass received a B.S. in physics from Cornell University in 1974.{{Cite web|url=http://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/archive-documents/dnrp/climate-change/pdf/biographies/dr-cliff-mass.pdf|title=King County Archives - Dr. Cliff Mass|website=King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks|access-date=15 March 2018}} As an undergraduate, Mass performed research on Martian weather with astrophysicist Carl Sagan,{{Cite journal|last1=Mass|first1=Clifford|last2=Sagan|first2=Carl|last3=Mass|first3=Clifford|last4=Sagan|first4=Carl|s2cid=121800710|date=1976-08-01|title=A Numerical Circulation Model with Topography for the Martian Southern Hemisphere|journal=Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences|volume=33|issue=8|pages=1418–1430|language=EN|doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1976)033<1418:ancmwt>2.0.co;2|bibcode=1976JAtS...33.1418M|hdl=2060/19760004896|hdl-access=free}} and on the role of sun spots and volcanic eruptions on historical climate conditions with climatologist Stephen Schneider.{{Cite journal|last1=Schneider|first1=S. H.|last2=Mass|first2=C.|date=1975|title=Volcanic dust, sunspots, and temperature trends|url=http://inis.iaea.org/Search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:7236703|journal=Science|language=en|volume=190|issue=4216|pages=741–746|doi=10.1126/science.190.4216.741|bibcode=1975Sci...190..741S|s2cid=121377943}} He received his PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington in 1978 with a dissertation on the role of African wave disturbances and climate variation in the Sahel region.{{Cite web|url=http://meteorology.ou.edu/event/dr-cliff-mass-november-7th/|title=Why has U.S. Numerical Weather Prediction Fallen Behind and What Can Be Done About It?|website=meteorology.ou.edu|date=18 May 2017|access-date=15 March 2018}}
Academic career
Before joining the faculty of the University of Washington, Mass was a professor of meteorology at the University of Maryland from 1978 to 1981. He leads the University of Washington Mesoscale Analysis and Forecasting Group and is the chief scientist of the Northwest Modeling Consortium. He has published over 120 articles in peer-reviewed scientific venues, and served on the board of over a dozen regional and national meteorological committees, conferences, and scientific journals.{{Cite web|url=https://atmos.washington.edu/~cliff/cliff.php|title=UW Mesoscale Analysis and Forecasting Group|access-date=15 March 2018}}
Outreach and scientific advocacy
File:Langley_NEXRAD.jpg, which went online in 2011.]]
Mass maintains a popular weblog in which he posts regular articles on meteorology, Pacific Northwest weather history, and the impacts of climate change{{Cite news|url=https://mag.jewishinseattle.org/articles/2018/2/14/jewish-values-inspire-cliff-mass-for-good-and-for-a-little-controversy|title=Jewish Values Inspire Cliff Mass to Work for Good — and Stir Up a Little Controversy|work=Jewish in Seattle |type=magazine|author= Sydney Parker|date=February 2014|access-date=2018-03-16}} written for the general public.
Mass has stated publicly that he shares the scientific consensus that global warming is real and that human activity is a major cause of warming trend in the late 20th and 21st centuries.{{Cite news|url=http://archive.seattleweekly.com/home/961097-129/cliff-mass-knows-climate-change-is|title=Cliff Mass Knows Climate Change Is Real, So Why Are Activists and Scientists So Mad at Him?|work=Seattle Weekly|access-date=2018-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316214149/http://archive.seattleweekly.com/home/961097-129/cliff-mass-knows-climate-change-is|archive-date=2018-03-16|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/Cliff-Mass-Climate-change-is-real-but-12236265.php|title=Cliff Mass: Climate change is real, but...|work=seattlepi.com|access-date=2018-03-16}} According to Mass, "Global warming is an extraordinarily serious issue, and scientists have a key role to play in communicating what is known and what is not about this critical issue."{{Cite web|url=http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns-magazine/march-2011/face-time/|title=Face Time {{!}} Columns Archive, March 2011 {{!}} Past issues of Columns, the University of Washington Alumni Magazine|website=www.washington.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-16|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180316214142/http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns-magazine/march-2011/face-time/|archive-date=2018-03-16}} He has been critical of the Paris Climate accord for not going far enough to address the negative impacts of climate change.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/05/31/25180725/cliff-mass-and-charles-mudede-agree-on-one-more-thing-the-paris-accord-is-weak-stuff|title=Cliff Mass and Charles Mudede Agree on One More Thing: The Paris Accord Is "Weak Stuff"|work=The Stranger|access-date=2018-03-16|language=en}} Mass has also expressed concern when media outlets and environmental organizations have made, in his opinion, exaggerated claims about the current impacts of climate change. Mass has questioned statements of climate change as the cause of specific weather events.{{Cite web|url=http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2017/05/seattle-times-climate-change-article-is.html|title=Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: Seattle Times Climate Change Article is Dead Wrong|last=Mass|first=Cliff|date=2017-05-13|website=Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog|access-date=2018-03-16}}{{Cite web|url=http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2017/09/resilience-to-extreme-weather-and.html|title=Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog: Resilience to Extreme Weather and Climate Change: Can This Be a Bipartisan Effort?|last=Mass|first=Cliff|date=2017-09-24|website=Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog|access-date=2018-03-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://crosscut.com/2015/05/what-drought-washington-meteorologist-cliff-mass-vs-nearly-everyone|title=What drought? Meteorologist Cliff Mass vs. nearly everyone|website=crosscut.com|language=en|access-date=2018-03-16}}{{Cite news|url=http://kuow.org/post/cliff-mass-panic-about-climate-change-isnt-helping|title=Cliff Mass: Panic about climate change isn't helping|last=Mehling|first=Shane|last2=Radke |first2=Bill|access-date=2018-03-16|language=en}} For example, Mass concluded that global warming was not a central factor in the 2021 Western North America heat wave. The authors of a World Weather Attribution report asserting the connection criticized Mass's analysis of their work.{{cite news |last1=Bernton |first1=Hal |title=Seattle meteorologist Cliff Mass sparks controversy by diving into heat wave climate science |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-meteorologist-cliff-mass-sparks-controversy-by-diving-into-heat-wave-climate-science/ |access-date=5 August 2021 |work=The Seattle Times |date=3 August 2021}}
Charles Mudede, in The Stranger, called Mass "a very dangerous weatherperson" from a philosophical standpoint, comparing Mass's comments on the uncertainty of anthropogenic global warming with the comments made by French philosopher Quentin Meillassoux on God.{{Cite news|last=Mudede|first=Charles|date=May 6, 2016|url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2016/05/06/24054552/why-cliff-mass-is-a-very-dangerous-weatherperson|title=Why Cliff Mass Is a Very Dangerous Weatherperson|work=The Stranger|access-date=2018-03-16|language=en}}
Mass advocated for the acquisition and installation of the Langley Hill Doppler weather radar in 2011, the first on the Washington coast.{{cite news|title=New radar on Washington coast will give forecasters a better look inside incoming storms|date=May 3, 2011|first=Stuart |last=Tomlinson | newspaper=The Oregonian|location=Portland|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2011/05/new_weather_service_radar_on_c.html}}
Personal life
Mass, who is Jewish, has stated the value of tikkun olam has informed his approach to science.
Bibliography
- {{cite book|title=The Weather of the Pacific Northwest|year=2008|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=9780295988474|oclc=836835255|url=https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295988474/the-weather-of-the-pacific-northwest/ }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/ Cliff Mass Weather Blog]
- [https://sites.uw.edu/cmass/ Faculty profile at the University of Washington]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mass, Cliff}}
Category:American meteorologists
Category:University of Washington faculty
Category:University of Washington College of the Environment alumni
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:Jewish American scientists
Category:Scientists from New York (state)
Category:Scientists from Washington (state)
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:People from Far Rockaway, Queens
Category:Fellows of the American Meteorological Society