Iben Browning

Who was Iben Browning?

Iben Browning was an American climatologist and author. Browning was a scientific generalist, who made a career of suggesting new and sometimes unusual ideas.

Browning was born in Edna, Texas, grew up in Jackson, Texas, and graduated from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1937, majoring in both math and physics. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps. Subsequently, he earned an M.A. at the University of Texas at Austin in 1947, and then a doctorate of philosophy degree the following year at the same school. His doctorate was in zoology with minors in genetics and bacteriology. He wrote four books, held 90 patents, and served as a climatologist and business consultant to Paine Webber in various scientific and engineering fields. He was married to the former Florence Pinto and had one daughter, Evelyn. He lived his later years in Albuquerque, New Mexico and died on July 18, 1991.

Browning worked in various scientific fields, including artificial intelligence and bio-engineering, and eventually became interested in long-term weather forecasting and climate changes. He believed that climate fluctuations are caused by changes in the amount of particulate matter in the atmosphere. The major source of these changes is volcanic activity. He believed that volcanic activity can be triggered by land tidal forces caused by the Moon, Earth's elliptical orbit of the Sun, and the alignment of these three bodies. His climate predictions assumed that the dust thrown into the atmosphere by those eruptions reflects sunlight, which results in climatic cooling. Browning believed that climatic changes, especially cooling, are associated with increased troubles in human society, including famine, revolutions, and war.