S. George Philander

Samuel George Harker Philander (born July 25, 1942, Caledon, South Africa) is a climate scientist, known for his work on atmospheric circulation and oceanic currents, particularly El Niño. He is the Knox Taylor Professor emeritus of Geosciences at Princeton University.

Among his published works written for a broad audience are Our Affair with El Niño: How We Transformed an Enchanting Peruvian Current into a Global Climate Hazard and Is the Temperature Rising?: The Uncertain Science of Global Warming.

Education Samuel George Philander grew up in South Africa where his family was designated as "Colored" under the system of apartheid. He then did postdoctoral work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2017, he became the Knox Taylor Professor of Geosciences, Emeritus.

Research Philander has studied oceanic circulation, identifying patterns of interaction between ocean and atmosphere that are responsible for the phenomena of El Niño and La Niña and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. He coined the name "La Niña". His work on Paleoclimatology and his examination of geological data showing past changes to the climate has helped to develop models for the prediction of weather, the impacts of global warming, and global climate change in future.

Selected awards 2017, Vetlesen Prize, with Mark Cane 2010, Fellow, Academy of Science of South Africa 2007, Fellow, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) 2004, Member, U. S. National Academy of Sciences 2003, Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1991, Fellow, American Geophysical Union 1986, Fellow, American Meteorological Society

Books El Niño, La Niña and the Southern Oscillation. 289 pp., Academic Press, 1990. Is the Temperature Rising? The Uncertain Science of Global Warming. 254 pp., Princeton University Press, 1998. Our Affair with El Niño. How we Transformed an Enchanting Peruvian Current into a Global Climate Hazard. 275 pp., Princeton University Press, 2004. Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change. (as editor). (Vols. 1-3). SAGE Publications, Inc., 2012. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218564

Selected academic papers

Gu D. and S. G. H. Philander, Interdecadal Climate Fluctuations that depend on Exchanges between the Tropics and Extratropics, Science, 275, 805–807, 1997.

Philander, S. G. H., Instabilities of Zonal Equatorial Currents, 2, J. Geophys.Res., 83(C7), 3679–3682, 1978. Philander, S. G. H., Instabilities of Zonal Equatorial Currents, J. Geophys. Res., 81(21), 3721–3725, 1976. Philander, S. G. H., The Equatorial Undercurrent: Measurements and Theories, Rev. Geophys. and Space Physics, 11(3), 513–570, 1973. Philander, S. G. H., The Equatorial Dynamics of a Deep Homogeneous Ocean, Geophys. Fluid Dynamics Journal, 3, 105–123, 1972 Philander, S. G. H., The Equatorial Dynamics of a Shallow Homogeneous Ocean, Geophys. Fluid Dynamics Journal, 2, 219–245, 1971.