Michael Oppenheimer

About

Michael Oppenheimer is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), the Department of Geosciences, and the High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) at Princeton University. He is also the Director of the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment (C-PREE) and a Faculty Associate of the Program of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences (AOS) and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS). His research interests include the science and policy of the atmosphere, with a particular focus on climate change, the risks and impacts associated with climate change, and human responses such as adaptation. His work aims to understand the potential for dangerous outcomes of increasing greenhouse gases by exploring effects on ice sheets, sea level, coastal storm risks, and patterns of human migration. Additionally, he studies the process of scientific learning and assessments related to global change.

Research topics

• Environmental science
• Geography
• Ecology
• Biology
• Computer Security
• Natural resource economics
• Computer Science
• Geology
• Environmental resource management
• Economics

Selected publications

• Sea Level Rise and Implications for Low-Lying Islands, Coasts and Communities

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2022 · 878 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

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  DOI

• Understanding and managing connected extreme events

  Nature Climate Change · 2020 · 652 citations

  DOI

• Acting rapidly to deploy readily available methane mitigation measures by sector can immediately slow global warming

  Environmental Research Letters · 2021 · 372 citations

  Abstract Methane mitigation is essential for addressing climate change, but the value of rapidly implementing available mitigation measures is not well understood. In this paper, we analyze the climate benefits of fast action to reduce methane emissions as compared to slower and delayed mitigation timelines. We find that the scale up and deployment of greatly underutilized but available mitigation measures will have significant near-term temperature benefits beyond that from slow or delayed acti…

  DOI

• Global multi-model projections of local urban climates

  Nature Climate Change · 2021 · 334 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• ‘Tipping points’ confuse and can distract from urgent climate action

  Nature Climate Change · 2024-12-03 · 39 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Assessing Assessments: A Historical and Philosophical Study of Scientific Assessments for Environmental Policy in the Late 20th Century

  NSF · $387k · 2010–2013

Frequent coauthors

• Robert E. Kopp

  Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  216 shared

• Scott Kulp

  Climate Central

  67 shared

• Benjamin Strauss

  Climate Central

  61 shared

• Klaus Desmet

  Southern Methodist University

  54 shared

• Esteban Rossi‐Hansberg

  University of Chicago

  54 shared

• D. J. Rasmussen

  Princeton University

  53 shared

• Dávid Krisztián Nagy

  Pompeu Fabra University

  52 shared

• Maya K. Buchanan

  Johns Hopkins University

  47 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Chemical Physics

  University of Chicago

  1970

• S.B., Chemistry

  M.I.T.

  1966

Similar researchers at Princeton University

• Daniel M. Sigmanh-106
• Bess B. Wardh-81
• Jeroen Tromph-77