Science Media Centre

Jeff Neems writes in the Waikato Times about Dr Jim Salinger, a noted New Zealand climate scientist. Salinger has recently come under attack from people questioning whether earth really is warming and if so, whether it’s the fault of human activity. An excerpt: (read in full here) “Even during last year’s Climategate email scandal, Salinger, [...]

Statement from Professor Keith A Hunter FNZIC, FRSNZ, Vice-President – Physical Sciences, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology, Royal Society of New Zealand. Summary of Statement The science of climate change has been the subject of recent harsh criticisms in the popular media, with attacks on the integrity and professionalism of scientists. There is fault on both [...]

The Australian Science Media Centre rounded up questions on climate science from journalists and put them to leading scientists in the field. Below is the resulting Q&A. 1) There has been conflicting messages about warming in recent years – is it or is it not getting warmer? Professor Steven Sherwood, Climate Change Research Centre at [...]

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is reexamining a report it issued that suggests Himalayan glaciers could vanish by 2035. The veracity of the claim is in doubt after it was revealed that information cited in the report was based on “grey literature”. It was taken from a WWF report that was not [...]

Eloise Gibson of the NZ Herald reports that approximately half of all Kiwis doubt that climate change is actually occurring, according to a poll conducted by the Herald. About a quarter of Kiwis believe it isn’t occurring at all and is in fact a con, while a further 28% believe that the jury is still [...]

Day two at Copenhagen saw the release of the WMO’s last global temperature data, which suggests the current decade is the warmest on record. But the conference has also been dominated by the appearance of a leaked report dubbed the ‘Danish texts’. According to the Guardian, which published the draft report, the agreement “hands more [...]

An article in The Press by environment reporter Paul Gorman looking at claims by the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition that NIWA has manipulated historical temperature data to show a warming trend over the last 100 years. An excerpt: (read in full here) Renwick said there were several reasons for adjusting the temperature record, including [...]

New Zealand climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger is among an international group of climate scientists quoted in emails obtained from the University of East Anglia’s climate research unit and leaked onto the internet. The so-called “climategate” emails have been seized on by climate change sceptics who claim they show leading climate scientists have manipulated data [...]

The pros and cons of using 1080 Sunday will see a series of rallies held nationwide to protest aerial drops of 1080 poison to control pests that prey on native birds. The debate over use of 1080 seems to have intensified, thanks in part to the debate created by a high-profile documentary on the subject [...]

The New Zealand Herald’s environment reporter Eloise Gibson reports on a climate science update given by senior New Zealand climate scientists in Wellington yesterday. An excerpt: (read in full here) “Because sea level rise will not be uniform around the globe, Dr Tim Naish, the director of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University, said [...]