Home / Environment / Climate Model Team Faces Sacking, Australia's Future Forecasts at Risk
Climate Model Team Faces Sacking, Australia's Future Forecasts at Risk
19 May
Summary
- A third of CSIRO's climate model team faces job cuts.
- Australia may lose ability to contribute to global climate reports.
- Cuts risk Australia's capacity to forecast future climate damage.
Significant job cuts are looming at CSIRO, with approximately one-third of the team responsible for Australia's national climate model slated for redundancy. This decision raises serious concerns among senior scientists who warn it will cripple the nation's capacity to generate climate projections essential for both domestic planning and international reporting.
The cuts are expected to affect about five of the 15 core scientists working on the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (Access) model. Researchers highlight that this reduction in expertise will diminish Australia's ability to contribute meaningfully to global assessments, such as those conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Despite recent government funding announcements for CSIRO, management plans to proceed with these redundancies. Scientists argue that losing this foundational climate modeling capability could prevent Australia from submitting crucial projections for future IPCC reports and undermine its role as a key player in southern hemisphere climate research.
Experts express anger and frustration, stating that such a move compromises Australia's preparedness for climate change impacts and its credibility on the international scientific stage. The potential consequences include reduced capacity to understand global climate phenomena and their specific effects on Australia, impacting planning for industries, governments, and communities.
