François-Marie Bréon, born in 1965, is a former student of the École normale supérieure. He defended his thesis in 1989 at the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University on the use of space observations to measure temperature and humidity profiles in the atmosphere, with the aim of improving weather forecasting. After postdocs in the USA (UC San Diego) and Japan (Meteorological Research Institute), he joined the CEA, where he spent his entire career, in what was to become the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement.
François-Marie Bréon specializes in the use of space observations to understand climate processes and monitor their evolution. He has participated in the development of space instruments for measuring atmospheric composition and characterizing the state of land and ocean surfaces. These measurements have enabled him, for example, to demonstrate the impact of aerosols - small particles suspended in the atmosphere - on cloud reflectivity.
His work on the Earth's radiation balance and anthropogenic forcings led him to be selected to contribute to the drafting of the 5th iPCC report.
François-Marie Bréon is also involved in popularizing science and combating pseudo-science. It was in this context that he was president, and is now spokesman, of the French Association for Scientific Information.
