Climate Change and Human Society

Dr. Andrew Dessler is a distinguished climate scientist and the Director of the Texas Center for Extreme Weather at Texas A&M University, where his work focuses on understanding and addressing the impacts of climate change on human and natural systems. His research sits at the intersection of climate science and society, with the goal of improving resilience to climate-driven risks.

Dr. Dessler earned his undergraduate degree from Rice University in 1986 and completed his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1994. Over the course of his career, he has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and has contributed extensively to the scientific understanding of Earth’s climate system.

In recent years, Dr. Dessler’s research has emphasized climate impacts, particularly the quantification of climate extremes and how climate change alters their frequency and severity. His work also examines how a warming climate stresses critical infrastructure, including energy and water systems, and the broader implications for human society.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Dessler made significant contributions to global climate physics. His research focused on estimating key climate feedbacks—such as water vapor and cloud feedbacks—and constraining climate sensitivity. This work helped improve understanding of atmospheric processes while providing benchmarks for evaluating the accuracy and reliability of global climate models. Although he no longer actively works in this area, it remains an important foundation of his scientific legacy.

Dr. Dessler also spent much of his early career studying atmospheric chemistry, with a particular emphasis on stratospheric processes. His research included work with balloon- and aircraft-borne instruments measuring water vapor and ozone, as well as the analysis of satellite observations of trace gases critical to stratospheric ozone chemistry. While he continued work on stratospheric water vapor into recent years, his research focus has since shifted away from this domain.

Beyond academia, Dr. Dessler has engaged directly with science policy. In 2000, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. This experience highlighted for him the widespread challenges policymakers and the public face in understanding how science works and how to evaluate competing scientific claims. Motivated by this gap, he authored a book using climate change as a case study to explain how science is applied—and sometimes misused—in the policy arena.

Through his research, teaching, and public engagement, Dr. Dessler continues to play a leading role in advancing climate science and improving society’s ability to understand and respond to climate change.