The life and loves of Scripps icon Walter Munk

Oceanographer Walter Munk
Oceanographer Walter Munk — Mike Lee

Question: Of all your accomplishments, are you most proud of the wave work for the Navy?

Answer: I don’t think so. I did other things which I think were better science. But it certainly made my reputation and it has made my relationship with the Navy so good for my whole career. I now have a chair endowed by the Secretary of the Navy, in my name, which makes it possible for me to keep on working even though I am old and senile.

Question: What are you working on?

Answer: I am now interested in sea level rise ... The official prediction is that by the end of the century, sea level will be higher by more than 1 foot and less than 6. Those are such broad limits that they don’t do you much good. If it were 3 feet, we would probably really worry about it. If it were 1 foot, we would probably muddle through it somehow.

The key to doing a better prediction is to understand the ice melting processes. ... On the underside of floating ice sheets, I think they are very sensitive to the temperature of the ocean water.

Question: Your hope is to develop models that will more closely predict that change?

Answer: I would like to go there and do some measurements — Greenland or Antarctica. That is where the action is.

Question: When are you going to retire?

Answer: Hopefully never. It is great fun and it’s a way to keep working with people who are much younger. Most people when they get old only see old people. That is not a good idea.



