International scientists call on Canada to re-invest in climate science
By Contributor
Hundreds of prominent international scientists specializing in climate and atmospheric science released an open letter today urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to re-invest in climate science.
The letter raises concern that a crisis is looming for Canadian climate and atmospheric research following the government’s failure to renew or replace the Climate Change and Atmospheric Research (CCAR) program which funded seven research networks.
“Canada is uniquely placed to monitor the changing atmosphere in the high Arctic regions,” said Dr. Clare Murphy, Director of the Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Wollongong in Australia. “As such Canadian atmospheric and climate science plays a pivotal role in the global effort to understand our changing environment.”
The CCAR funded projects measure, observe and model many important international environmental issues including: aerosols; biogeochemical tracers in the Arctic Ocean; sea ice and snow cover; weather prediction and climate projection; changes to land, water, and climate; and the temperature of the atmosphere in the high Arctic.
The government provided temporary funding for one of the CCAR projects, the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), in November of last year. This funding only goes until 2019 and there has been no new funding announced for the other projects.
“At the highest levels of government in the United States, climate science is devalued and dismissed,” said Dr. Benjamin D. Santer, a climate researcher at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and a MacArthur Fellow. “In these difficult times, U.S. climate scientists look to our Canadian neighbors for encouragement. Canada possesses unique capabilities for measuring, monitoring, and modeling climate change. I hope that the Canadian government is committed to sustaining these unique capabilities, and is committed to preserving Canada’s role as one of the world’s leaders in climate science.”
The letter highlights the importance of Canadian climate science at a time when research funding is being cut in other countries and urges Prime Minister Trudeau to ensure that Canada continues to be a global leader in climate science by re-investing in these valuable research projects that have international significance.
A full copy of the letter can be found here: https://goo.gl/T2b3Pz
Contributed by Evidence for Democracy
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