Richard Peter "Rich" Turco (born 1943) is an American atmospheric scientist, and Professor at the Institute of the Environment, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

Turco was lead author of a prominent paper published in 1983 in Science [2] that reported computer calculations of the reduction of solar irradiance at the surface of the Earth, due to absorption of radiation by smoke that would result from a putative large-scale nuclear exchange.

The phenomenon, which became known as nuclear winter, garnered much public attention.

In 2018 the American Geophysical Union established the "Future Horizons in Climate Science: Turco Lectureship" [3] through a donation by Richard P. and Linda S. Turco.

The lectureship highlights signal research on climate change through noteworthy lectures by recognized leaders in the field.