Colorado scientist appointed to lead federal climate change assessment
Betsy Weatherhead, a former scientist at the University of Colorado and current fellow at Jupiter Intelligence, will direct the federal government’s comprehensive report on climate change.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Weatherhead, a 2007 recipient of the Nobel Prize for her study of the Arctic climate, will work through the U.S. Geological Survey to oversee the next National Climate Assessment.
More than a dozen federal agencies are responsible for the report, with the last one released in 2018 and the next one scheduled for 2022.
“Fossil fuel combustion accounts for approximately 85% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with agriculture, land-cover change, industrial processes, and methane from fossil fuel extraction and processing as well as from waste (including landfills, wastewater treatment, and composting) accounting for most of the remainder,” the 2018 document observed.
The Post found that Weatherhead favors engaging private industry with the development of the report and would prefer to include the costs of climate change on various economic sectors.
News of Weatherhead’s appointment came on the same day the Trump Administration withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who was leading in electoral votes as of Thursday morning, has pledged to rejoin the international compact.


