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£4m climate change study launched £4m climate change study launched
(about 2 hours later)
A five-year programme to study the impact of climate change in Wales on land, sea and atmosphere is under way.A five-year programme to study the impact of climate change in Wales on land, sea and atmosphere is under way.
The £4m programme, known as the Climate Change Consortium or C3W, will also consider the effects on ice and glaciers, and its social consequences. Nearly 200 experts at Cardiff Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Swansea universities will be members of the £4m Climate Change Consortium or C3W.
Nearly 200 experts in Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea Universities, will be involved. The consortium will examine the effects of climate change on the planet's ice and glaciers.
They will also provide public and business information and organise like road shows and a museum display. It will also look at the social effects of climate change and how to engage the public with the issue.
Aberystwyth University's Professor Mike Hambrey, an expert in glaciers and the acting director of C3W, said the group was made up of climate and social scientists with shared concerns.
He said: "We're all joined together because we have deep concerns about the issue of climate change and want to do something constructive about it."
They would be tackling four "grand challenges," he said.
'Coastline'
He said: "The first of these is sea level change, the second deals with the evaluation and mitigation of hazards, the third one is how we go about modelling climate change, and then we've got a more Welsh-focused dimension of climate change which involves finding out how the wider community in Wales identifies with the issue."
He said one of the target areas was to identify how sea level changes will affect Wales in terms of coastal defences.
"We can expect rising sea level which will have a major impact on our coastline," said Prof Hambrey.
"What's also particularly important is the way we get the message across to the wider public, and that's one of our key strategies - to identify with the public what are their concerns [and how we can] help them respond to issues of climate change themselves."
The programme is being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government via the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW).The programme is being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government via the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW).
Professor Phillip Gummett, HEFCW chief executive, said it was an important investment in the future of climate change research in Wales and the UK, and will help both C3W and the institutions be recognised internationally as a centre of excellence. Experts
Human-induced climate warming Education Minister Jane Hutt said C3W had the double aims of "improving our understanding of the causes, nature, timing and consequences of climate change on our environment as well as establishing Wales as a recognisable authority in terms of climate research".
"It will add to other recent investments in Wales in research into a low-carbon future and environmental sustainability, and will help with developing policies in Wales and beyond." The expert group is to include glaciologists, marine biologists, climate modellers, lawyers, engineers and ageing experts.
Education Minister Jane Hutt said: "Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today and the assembly government is committed to playing its part in tackling it." They will also provide public and business information and organise road shows and a museum display.
Ms Hutt said C3W has the double aims of "improving our understanding of the causes, nature, timing and consequences of climate change on our environment as well as establishing Wales as a recognisable authority in terms of climate research".
Professor Noel Lloyd, vice chancellor of Aberystwyth University, said the rational for the consortium was the recognition that climate change is a major global issue.
He said there was a scientific consensus that "human-induced climate warming is a reality and rapidly leading to irreversible consequences, such as more extreme weather events, changing patterns of aridity and rising sea levels".
Professor Lloyd said: "The research to be conducted by C3W scientists will be of direct benefit to the development of great sustainability."
Research areas
Bangor University vice chancellor Professor Merfyn Jones said the institution has developed a particularly strong profile in climate change science, and C3W would build on the recognised work of research groups there.
Dr David Grant, vice chancellor of Cardiff University, said it was already involved with some of Wales' leading allied research areas of low-carbon energy and energy-use efficiency.
He said being a member of C3W "will play a major role in the university's further contribution to a more sustainable future for us all".
Prof Richard B Davies, Swansea University's vice chancellor said the ambition of the consortium must be "no less than establishing Wales as a world-leading centre for climate change research".
"Researchers will be supporting C3W from across the Swansea campus, including glaciologists, marine biologists, climate modellers, lawyers, engineers and ageing experts."