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| Climate scientists gather to renew faith |
| Written by Tangata Vainerere | |
| Sunday, 04 July 2010 | |
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01 JULY 2010 CANBERRA (RADIO AUSTRALIA) ----- Accusations of political agenda and scientific arrogance have plagued the climate change debate in recent times. Australia's first international conference on adapting to climate change is underway this week, co-hosted by the Australian government's national science agency, the CSIRO. One of the primary goals of the conference is to validate its own existence to an increasingly sceptical audience. Radio Australia’s Presenter: Danielle Grindlay speaks with Steven Schneider, advisor to the US Obama administration on climate change and Martin Perry, Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College in London GRINDLAY: Climate scientists are currently meeting on Australia's Gold Coast to try and understand why they have lost public understanding and support of their work. From the outset of the 2010 International Climate Adaptation Futures Conference, the scientists have recognised they need to restore confidence in climate science. Advisor to the Obama administration on climate change, Steven Schneider, says people have become confused and exposed to scientific dishonesty in the media. SCHNEIDER: I think the first step for the government should be an open and honest discussion and that has to include 'who's a real expert'? A petroleum geologist who has a special interest in finding oil knows nothing about how sensitive the climate is to CO2. I don't think they should even be covered. But if you're going to cover them at least report that they are really out on a limb and they don't publish in the area. We've had massive public confusion associated with claim and counterclaim. Just being a PHD is not a qualification to talk about the complexities of climate science. In order to stop people from making wild claim that's making the world safe against polemics and I haven't figured out any way to do that in a democracy. GRINDLAY: The director of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, Dr Russel Howorth, has called for the media to interact with established experts to prevent negative and sensationalised journalism. Dr Howorth called a press conference recently to clarify a report his colleague co-authored which was overly simplified by some reporters. That report found that some Pacific islands have increased in size over the last 50 years - suggesting they may have a natural barrier to rising sea levels. However, Dr Howorth says his associate's findings in no way proposed that islands are free from the damages of climate change. Professor Schneider says such conclusions are diluting the strong warnings of climate science experts. SCHNEIDER: People in the room can see me smiling and rolling my eyes. I don't see how Tuvalu, Kiribati or the Maldives are somehow going to get jacked up on stilts. If you have an island a couple of metres high and the sea level rises a metre or two they are history GRINDLAY: Martin Perry of the Centre for Environmental Policy in the UK says rising sea levels are just one quandary for the region. PERRY: The problem with island communities is not just the sea level rise. Its affect on the freshwater lens which is very limited in these islands. Many of them are outgrowing their freshwater reservoirs. And the change in climate over these islands - it doesn't just need a reduction in rainfall which is expected in some of them, but even if rainfall remains the same the higher rates of evaporation tend to reduce the lens in the order of, I think, about 10 per cent per one degree warming. Which in an already stressed water reservoir is going to diminish their resources even more...PNS (ENDS) |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 July 2010 ) |
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