Australia’s national science agency said Tuesday it would establish a Climate Science Center intended to provide climate modeling and forecasts for the nation.
“The announcement today is a culmination of the ongoing consultation and feedback that we’ve had from our staff and stakeholders, and this new Centre is a reflection of the strong collaboration and support right across our system and the global community,” Larry Marshall, chief executive of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, said in a press release.
The center is set to begin with 40 CSIRO scientists and a 10-year mandate, enabling it to “focus CSIRO’s climate measurement and modelling researchers and resources,” the release says.
Researchers at the Climate Science Center will collaborate with their peers at Australian universities and other organizations, along with the Australia Bureau of Meteorology and the United Kingdom Meteorology Office. “CSIRO will offer its unique Southern Hemisphere modelling capability and measurements to the UK’s global model, helping to build a model that is even more relevant for Australia and other Southern Hemisphere nations,” the agency said.
In February, CSIRO said it would shift its climate activities and lay off as many as 350 employees in certain areas. “Australia’s biggest challenges and opportunities lie in the health, prosperity and sustainability in the face of rapid global changes; climate is one piece of a much larger puzzle,” Marshall said at the time. “No one is saying climate change is not important, but surely mitigation, health, education, sustainable industries, and prosperity of the nation are no less important.”
CSIRO said at the time that the changes would not endanger the Cape Grim air pollution monitoring site, which collects much of the nation’s data on greenhouse gas emissions, or the research vessel RV Investigator. In Tuesday’s announcement, the agency said Cape Grim and the RV Investigator, as well as other key climate measurement components, would be maintained.
