A New Climate Change Research Team
A promising, new climate change research team is being formed. In Australia, CSIRO Wealth from Ocean Flagship’s scientist, Dr. Wenju Cai has received a 5-year fellowship to lead a team in climate change research. The financial provision for scientific research comes from the 2011 CSIRO Office of the Chief Executive Science Leadership Award.
The company’s Chief Executive, Dr. Megan Clark, is excited about this response to Australia’s expand its expertise in climate change through 5 years of continued observations and modeling by Dr. Cai’s team. This will build the country’s knowledge base in the field.
One specific application Dr. Clark hopes will be studied is climate change’s impact on Australia’s weather cycle of prolonged droughts followed by torrential rains. Leading the team, Dr. Cai anticipates focusing on detecting and attributing climate change, attempting to establish a connection between the oceanic climate surrounding the country and Australia’s climate. Some specific instances which likely will be explored include the Indian Ocean Dipole and El Nino.
The cycle of droughts and rainfall affects all aspects of life there. Ultimately, this research could impact the economic and environmental aspects of Australia. There is even a possible impact on Australian lifestyle.
Located in Melbourne at the company’s Marine and Atmospheric Laboratories, the fellowship provides compensation for 2 post-doctoral researchers, 2 PhD students, in addition to Dr. Cai.
Dr. Cai is well suited for this position. Since 2005, he has been published in approximately 40 peer-reviewed papers. These scientific publications addressed topics such as variability, change and predictability with respect to the Australian climate and factors affecting it. One of Dr. Cai’s crowning achievements thus far has been his contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment, which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to this, he has chaired the World Climate Research Programme Climate Variability and Prediction Pacific Implementation Panel.
As his insights have served Australia’s leadership well in the past, this research will continue to be valued. Guiding policy decisions concerning many of Australia’s natural resources, this research will be valued by many of Australia’s municipalities and authorities.
