The man the New York Times dubbed a ‘Climate Warrior’ was a joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in 2007.

Mr Schneider who spent his entire professional career investigating climate change first hit the headlines when he said the world was cooling down.

He said the scientific evidence at the time pointed to cooling and when new techniques and more research led him to the opposite conclusion he became a target for climate change sceptics, receiving death threats and abuse on a daily basis.

edie.net heard from Mr Schneider at the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen only seven months ago and found him an engaging and informed man.

The scientist was flying from a meeting in Sweden, to London on July 19, when he was taken ill aged only 65.

Jeff Koseff, Mr Schneider’s colleague at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment, said: “Steve, more than anything, whether you agreed with him or not, forced us to confront this real possibility of climate change.”

Mr Schneider was influential in the public debate over climate change and wrote a book, Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth’s Climate, about his experiences.

He also wrote a book, published in 2006, about his battle with mantle cell lymphoma, Patient from Hell.

Luke Walsh

Action inspires action. Stay ahead of the curve with sustainability and energy newsletters from edie

Subscribe