Tim Lenton

Timothy Michael Lenton OBE FGS FLS FRSB (born July 1973) is Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter. He was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2013,^[2] and was appointed OBE in June 2025.

Tim Lenton
Born	July 1973 (age 51–52)
Alma mater	Robinson College, Cambridge University of East Anglia (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Exeter University of East Anglia
Thesis	Redfields green ocean : a geophysical model of marine nitrate, phosphate and atmospheric oxygen regulation (1998)
Doctoral advisor	Andrew Watson[1]

Background

He graduated with a first-class degree in natural sciences from Robinson College, Cambridge in 1994 and completed his PhD under Andrew Watson at the University of East Anglia in 1998.^[1][3]

Gaia hypothesis

Lenton has taken an interest in the Gaia hypothesis for much of his career. Early in his career, in the journal Nature,^[4] Lenton addressed a concern that the Gaia hypothesis was incompatible with the theory of natural selection by demonstrating that a model based on Daisyworld was strengthened by incorporating natural selection. In the same year, Lenton co-authored the paper "Spora and Gaia" with W. D. Hamilton, proposing that marine algae's tendency to release dimethyl sulfide, which in turn acts as a chemical precursor for cloud condensation nuclei, is an adaptive trait, as the algae can use the clouds to disperse themselves around the world.^[5] Lenton, with Andy Watson, co-authored the book Revolutions that Made the Earth;^[6] it expands on the ideas of James Lovelock on the Gaia hypothesis, by highlighting mechanisms by which the Earth system has been stabilised by negative feedbacks throughout Earth history.

Climate change

Impacts

Lenton has participated in studies of possible population displacement due to climate change.^[7]

Tipping points

Lenton has been called 'a leading tipping point expert'.^[8][9]

Lenton was awarded the OBE in the King's Birthday Honours, 2025, for services to understanding climate tipping points.^[10]

Publications

• Lenton, T. M.; Marsh, R.; Price, A. R.; Lunt, D. J.; Aksenov, Y.; Annan, J. D.; Cooper-Chadwick, T.; Cox, S. J.; Edwards, N. R.; Goswami, S.; Hargreaves, J. C.; Harris, P. P.; Jiao, Z.; Livina, V. N.; Payne, A. J.; Rutt, I. C.; Shepherd, J. G.; Valdes, P. J.; Williams, G.; Williamson, M. S.; Yool, A. (2007). "Effects of atmospheric dynamics and ocean resolution on bi-stability of the thermohaline circulation examined using the Grid ENabled Integrated Earth system modelling (GENIE) framework" (PDF). Climate Dynamics. 29 (6): 591. Bibcode:2007ClDy...29..591L. doi:10.1007/s00382-007-0254-9. S2CID 12716899.
• Goldblatt, C.; Lenton, T.; Watson, A. (2006). "Bistability of atmospheric oxygen and the Great Oxidation". Nature. 443 (7112): 683–686. Bibcode:2006Natur.443..683G. doi:10.1038/nature05169. PMID 17036001. S2CID 4425486.
• Lenton, T. M.; Williamson, M. S.; Edwards, N. R.; Marsh, R.; Price, A. R.; Ridgwell, A. J.; Shepherd, J. G.; Cox, S. J.; The GENIE team (2006). "Millennial timescale carbon cycle and climate change in an efficient Earth system model" (PDF). Climate Dynamics. 26 (7–8): 687–711. Bibcode:2006ClDy...26..687L. doi:10.1007/s00382-006-0109-9. S2CID 6607417.
• Lenton, T. M.; Watson, A. J. (2004). "Biotic enhancement of weathering, atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide in the Neoproterozoic". Geophysical Research Letters. 31 (5): L05202. Bibcode:2004GeoRL..31.5202L. doi:10.1029/2003GL018802.
• Lenton, T. M. (2000). "Land and ocean carbon cycle feedback effects on global warming in a simple Earth system model". Tellus B. 52 (5): 1159–1188. Bibcode:2000TellB..52.1159L. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0889.2000.01104.x.
• Lenton, T. M. (1998). "Gaia and natural selection". Nature. 394 (6692): 439–447. Bibcode:1998Natur.394..439L. doi:10.1038/28792. PMID 9697767. S2CID 4412683.