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https://theconversation.com/as-us-climate-data-gathering-is-gutted-australian-forecasting-is-now-at-real-risk-261747>
"This year, Australia has experienced record-breaking floods, tropical
cyclones, heatwaves on land and in the ocean, drought, coral bleaching, coastal
erosion and devastating algal blooms. Over the past five years, insured losses
from extreme events have risen to A$4.5 billion annually – more than double the
30-year average.
But even as damage from climate change intensifies, political change overseas
is threatening Australia’s ability to track what’s happening now, and predict
what will happen next.
The United States has historically been a world leader in earth observation
systems and freely sharing the gathered data. Sharing of data, expertise and
resources between scientists in the US and Australia makes possible the
high-quality weather, climate and ocean monitoring and forecasting we rely on.
But this is no longer guaranteed. Under the Trump administration, key US
scientific institutions and monitoring programs are facing deep cuts. These
cuts aren’t just cosmetic – they will end essential data gathering. Australia
has long relied on these data sources. When they dry up, it will make it much
harder for scientists to look ahead.
Australian leaders should look for ways to boost local earth monitoring
capabilities where possible and partner with other large scientific
organisations outside the US."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
