Dr. Pushker A Kharecha

Dr. Pushker A. Kharecha
NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Pushker Kharecha is a postdoctoral research scientist with NASA GISS and the Columbia University Earth Institute. After earning a dual PhD in Earth science and astrobiology from Pennsylvania State University in summer 2005, Dr. Kharecha joined GISS and shifted his focus to the field of climate science, in the interest of conducting research that has direct relevance to environmental policy. Broadly, his research interests include global climate change (both anthropogenic and natural), the global carbon cycle, paleoclimate, and energy and climate. Recently, Dr. Kharecha and Dr. James Hansen (the director of GISS and one of the world's foremost climate scientists) have submitted a paper for peer-reviewed publication in a scientific journal, titled "Implications of 'peak oil' for atmospheric CO2 and climate" (available at http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov). Examining the impact of a range of peak oil scenarios on CO2 emissions, they conclude that peaking of global oil production could have a major effect on 21st-century climate change, depending on the timing and magnitude of the peak, and subsequent energy choices. They argue that a fair yet effective price on carbon emissions should be implemented in order to move energy choices in a direction that averts dangerous climate change. They also outline several key policy recommendations regarding global use of coal and unconventional fossil fuels -- specifically, that coal CO2 /emissions /(not necessarily coal /use/) should be phased out globally within the next few decades, and that unconventional fossil fuels such as methane hydrates, tar sands, and shale oil should not be widely used unless their emissions are also captured and sequestered.

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