NERC welcomes recommendations on geo-engineering research
1 September 2009
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) welcomes the Royal Society's report on geo-engineering (published today), which includes a recommendation that more research should be undertaken to provide knowledge of the impact such actions would have on the climate system.
We will be taking the report's recommendations into account when we update the NERC strategy later this year, which will shape future research programmes in this area.
Current priority themes in the NERC strategy, most notably Earth System Science and Climate System, are particularly relevant. We need to understand the climate and ecosystem responses to proposed geo-engineering schemes. The outputs from many of our research programmes inform geo-engineers, scientists and policy-makers who need to make informed decisions about climate change mitigation and adaptation.
NERC already funds a number of major programmes, such as Oceans 2025 and UK SOLAS, which include projects on ocean carbon uptake and release, Quantifying & Understanding the Earth System (QUEST), which looks at modelling climate impacts, and APPRAISE for the science of atmospheric aerosols and their effect on climate.
We also fund research through our Research and Collaborative Centres such as the British Geological Survey, which provides baseline research and is investigating ways to capture and store carbon, the National Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, which deals with atmospheric behaviour and climate prediction, and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, which helps inform international climate change policy. Some of this research is relevant, to varying degrees, to geo-engineering work.
Over the coming months we plan to develop a more strategic approach to our research investments in geo-engineering. This will include public dialogue events to help inform our approach to geo-engineering research and assess where priorities lie.
Further information
NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215
Briefing note: 07/09
Related links
External links
- The Royal Society report : Geo-engineering the climate
- British Geological Society
- National Centre for Atmospheric Sciences
- Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Press links
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