RIP Katharine Giles

Cyclist death: woman killed in Victoria lorry crash was world respected climate change scientist - London

It is the second tragedy to hit the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling after its director Professor Seymour Laxon died aged 49 after falling down a flight of stairs in the early hours of New Year’s Day, hitting his head and suffering a massive brain haemorrhage. Dr Giles had been earmarked as his successor.

A statement to colleagues from Professor Shepherd and Professor Duncan Wingham said: “Coming so soon after the accidental death of Katharine’s own closest colleague, Seymour Laxon, we are left with a sense of the outrageous unfairness with which our best colleagues have been taken from us.”

2008: Big decline in depth of Arctic winter sea ice | Environment | The Guardian

However, Katharine Giles of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at University College London, who led the study, said it was too soon to say whether the downward trend would continue and lead to summer sea ice disappearing even faster than forecast. "It's dangerous to extrapolate out because colder weather would mean the ice could recover again," said Giles. "This data will help climate modellers to validate their models and make them more accurate."