For poor nations, the upcoming effects of climate change will now be even more difficult to get through. The National Center for Atmospheric Research, a major hub of work on the causes and consequences of climate change, has eliminated a program that aimed to help poor countries deal with droughts, floods and other climate-related hazards.
Faced with a shrinking budget, the center apparently decided that poor nations’ ability to help their people through incredible hardships that could occur as climate change wreaks havoc on the planet, just wasn’t one of their ‘core’ goals.
From The New York Times:
One scientist, Ilan Kelman, a senior research fellow at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, said he was “appalled” that the National Center for Atmospheric Research, based in Boulder, Colo., “would suddenly end one of the most productive programs and would let go of one of the most productive scientists within the institute.”
“In terms of value for money,” he added, “Dr. Glantz’s science was among the best, being cutting-edge and cost-effective, yet influencing the world. He also ensured that science was used for humanity and by humanity.”
This is bullshit. It amounts to washing their hands of the people who need them most. If anything, they should be expanding programs like this, to ensure that climate science research touches on its potential effects on the people of the world and not just abstract theories.
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Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
