Meteorology Department News
North Atlantic storm patterns throw light on 1987 gale
Release Date : 16 May 2012
The cyclone that brought about the devastating winds that battered the UK in the great storm of October 1987 was exceptional in both its strength and path across the south of the country.
This is the finding of a new study which has analysed the places where sting jets - an area that develops in some cyclones and causes strong surface winds - appear in the North Atlantic and how often they do so.
Presenting their results in the journal Environmental Research Letters, researchers from the University of Reading and Monash University, Australia, studied the hundred most intense storms to have occurred across the North Atlantic in the past twenty years.
Of the 100 storms studied, they found that around 30% of the storms had the potential to produce sting jets but these seemed to originate in relatively warmer, more southerly latitudes, out at sea.
A sting jet originates in a cyclone at an altitude of five kilometres within layers of moist ascending air. As the jet of air descends, it passes through clouds of ice crystals that cool it down, increasing its density and causing it to accelerate to speeds of up to 100 mph.
These strong winds appear in regions of a cyclone where they would not usually occur according to previous models.
"This descending jet is called a sting jet due to its location at the tip of the cloud head that wraps around the storm centre. This cloud resembles a scorpion's tail because of its hooked shape and is therefore described as the sting at the end of the scorpion's tail," said lead author of the study Dr Oscar Martínez-Alvarado, from Reading's Department of Meteorology.
The research shows that sting jets are a common feature of the most intense North Atlantic storms and that the potential impact of these storms crossing heavily populated areas should be considered by the insurance industry, policy makers and engineers who rely on these types of scientific advances to assess risk.
The time period analysed in this study was between 1989 and 2009. However, the researchers have highlighted two recent storms that struck Scotland in December last year and January this year, which both showed signs of a characteristic sting jet and produced winds of over 100 mph, leaving thousands of people without power.
"There is no evidence to suggest that sting jet storms are becoming more frequent. It really remains a question of chance," said Dr Martínez-Alvarado.
"Using a technique similar to the one we used here, it would be possible to see signs of the potential for sting jets some six hours in advance. However, their time and length scales are so small that forecasting their actual occurrence remains a very difficult task."
Be part of science history by joining the Forecast Factory
Release Date : 08 May 2012
Science enthusiasts will be able to see how weather forecasts work while helping to create the world's largest weather-predicting human computer at Reading Town Hall next month.
The Forecast Factory experiment, organised by meteorologists at the University of Reading, will attempt to recreate an idea first put forward by weather pioneer Lewis Fry Richardson 90 years ago, but which has never been attempted at such a large scale - until now.
Organisers are now seeking 200 enthusiastic people, aged eight plus, to arm themselves with a pencil, paper and calculator and become a vital cog in the world's largest ever human computer designed to predict the weather.
The free event, in the Town Hall on Sunday 3 June, is part of the Reading WAM Festival (Weather, Art and Music) over the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend.
Participants will also have a chance to meet Met Office forecaster Laura Tobin, who is a BBC weather forecaster and a former University of Reading student, and scientists from the world-leading Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and the Reading-based European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
Andrew Charlton-Perez, a meteorologist from the University of Reading, said: "This is a fascinating and ambitious attempt to carry out an experiment that was first put forward by one of the fathers of modern weather forecasting.
"You will need no previous experience of meteorology, maths or science to take part. But you will form part of a human computer that will work in exactly the same way as the modern supercomputers used to predict the weather by scientists today.
"This is a unique experiment and it promises to be a lot of fun. We look forward to seeing you."
Fry Richardson first put forward his idea for weather forecasting - in which a series of calculations are made across a grid, with the results for each grid cell depending on the output of those around it - in 1922, and he proposed that a large group of people could be used to make the calculations quickly and accurately.
However, his idea for what he called a 'forecast factory' to make the calculations was overtaken by electronic calculating machines in the 1950s - the forerunners of modern computers - and was therefore never tested.
The event will take place in two sessions, from 10am-12pm and 2-4pm on Sunday 3 June. Tickets are free, but limited to 200 people. Visit the Town Hall box office website or call the box office on 0118 960 6060 for tickets.
East Berks experiences twice the normal amount of April rain
Release Date : 01 May 2012
Reading and Maidenhead experienced over twice the normal amount of rainfall for April according to weather scientists at the University of Reading.
With water companies having enforced a hosepipe ban across the south of England from 5 April, researchers at the University of Reading recently calculated that the region needs twice as much rainfall over the summer than normal to get back to expected levels.
In April, the University received 120 mm while 114 mm fell in Maidenhead. These areas would normally expect to experience 48 mm. However, neither of these totals quite reached the record falls set in April 2000 (121 mm in Maidenhead and 133 mm at the University), which in turn was the wettest April locally in the past 60 years.
Dr Roger Brugge, from the University of Reading's renowned Department of Meteorology, said: "Following a remarkably warm and dry March in East Berkshire April 2012 has brought a return to cooler and wetter conditions. All this rain has come from frontal systems brought to us by areas of low pressure that have been persistently close to, or over the British Isles for most of the month. One wet month is not enough to replenish water sources underground though. Much of the early rain will have created runoff into rivers due to the hard ground surface and the deficit over the past year alone has been less than the surplus this month.
"April 2012 has been colder overall than March 2012 by about 0.8 degC. However, such a reversal in temperature between these two months is not as unusual as you might think. At the University in 1989 March was remarkably 1.2 degC warmer than April.
"With the rain has come cloud and a lack of any hot days. The highest temperature in April before the 30th was just 15.1C recorded on the 8th. Maidenhead recorded 16.3C on the 22nd. However, it turned slightly warmer on the 30th with 19.7C being recorded in Maidenhead and 18.9C at the University.
"However, both these temperatures were well below the March highs this year of 21.4C at the University and 22.7C in Maidenhead."
Why Europe's climate faces a stormy future
Release Date : 02 April 2012
Europe is likely to be hit by more violent winter storms in the future. Now a new study into the effects of climate change has found out why.
A weakening of the warm North Atlantic ocean current, the Meridional Overturning Circulation, during the next century has already been predicted by climate scientists, with suggestions it could lead to colder sea temperatures and reduced warming in Britain.
But new research by scientists at the University of Reading's Walker Institute and the University of Cologne suggests that the weakening of the warm current could also partially shut down Europe's protection against violent storms blowing in from the ocean.
The research, published on April 1 in the journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that without such strong warm ocean currents, the regional temperature variations in the North Atlantic will increase.
Such temperature variations, or gradients, help to power storms as they brew up over the ocean. The increase in regional gradients in the Atlantic suggests that the number of storms following a more southerly track, therefore hitting land in Europe, will also increase as greenhouse gas levels rise in the atmosphere.
This is contrary to predictions about changes to storm tracks in other parts of the globe, where increasing temperatures are expected to cause storms to reach higher latitudes than is currently the norm.
The findings are likely to be useful for planners, policy makers and businesses that will need to prepare for the impending changes to our climate in the years ahead.
Dr Tim Woollings, from the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology, said: "From the climate models studied, we expect more storms will hit Europe as the 21st century progresses. We found that changes in ocean currents, in response to increasing levels of greenhouse gases, are crucial in shaping the North Atlantic storm track changes.
"Predictions showed obvious changes to expected weather patterns by the end of the century, but it is not yet clear exactly when this signal may first emerge.
"Predicting future changes to storm patterns can be difficult, and we have shown that in order to improve confidence in these predictions we need to improve our observations and models of ocean currents."
The researchers studied and compared a number of climate models, including those used to help compile the influential fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Professor Ted Shepherd appointed to Grantham Chair in Climate Science
Release Date : 02 April 2012
The University of Reading is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Ted Shepherd to the Grantham Chair in Climate Science. Professor Shepherd will play a leading role in climate research in the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology, the renowned international centre for the study of weather and climate, and in the University's Walker Institute for Climate System Research.
Professor Shepherd, currently based at the University of Toronto, is acknowledged to be one of the leading atmospheric scientists of his generation. His outstanding research record over the past 30 years encompasses atmospheric dynamics, climate dynamics and climate change, and he is particularly known for his research on the stratosphere, the atmosphere above 10 km.
Professor George Marston, Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Reading, said: "We are delighted that we have recruited a scientist of Ted Shepherd's calibre to the Grantham Chair in Climate Science. We are already one of the leading international centres for weather and climate research. Professor Shepherd will provide a further boost for our research excellence, and new leadership in climate science at Reading and for the UK."
This appointment is one part of a large current investment in weather, climate and related areas of environmental science at Reading by external funders and the University. In particular, building on this recent funding by the Grantham Foundation and other funding by the UK Met Office and Willis Re, the University is investing in the creation of over 15 new academic posts over the next six months in Climate and Environmental Sciences in the Department of Meteorology and more broadly across the University, with the aim that Reading become the number one academic centre internationally for weather and climate research.
Professor Shepherd takes up his post at the University of Reading on 1 May 2012.
England needs 'twice normal rainfall' to overcome drought
Release Date : 29 March 2012
Southern England needs twice as much rainfall over the summer than normal to get back to expected levels, climate scientists have calculated.
As water companies prepare to enforce a hosepipe ban across the south of England from 5 April, researchers at the University of Reading said that the region needed rainfall equivalent to the amount seen during the 2007 summer floods to get back to normal.
Dr Ben Lloyd-Hughes, from the University's Walker Institute, said: "Over the last two years we've seen 22 months with normal or below normal rainfall, and crucially we've seen two dry winters in a row.
"We've seen less rainfall over the last year than in the 1976 drought and for the south east we have to go back to 1921 to see such a severe and prolonged lack of rainfall.
"The lack of rainfall over the last year means that we would need over 400mm of rain to get us back to normal levels by August - that's more than twice what we would normally get over the April to July period.
"We have seen those sorts of rainfall amounts before though. For those of you who remember the summer of 2007 when flooding threatened the Tewksbury electricity sub-station, we saw more than double the normal amount of rainfall in May, June and July."
He added that Met Office forecasts hinted at the possibility of some relief, with showers predicted over the next few weeks in the south of England, but the Met Office experimental forecasts, which look 2-4 months into the future, suggest normal or even drier than normal conditions are most likely over the next few months.
Dr Lloyd-Hughes said that unlike in 1976, current drought conditions were only affecting the southern part of the UK.
He said: "What we've got is a situation with very dry soils and low river and aquifer levels. At this time of year, winter rains have usually replenished water supplies and soils are wet. So to see such dry conditions at the beginning of the spring/summer season is a real concern to water companies and farmers."
Warm days, cool nights, foggy mornings - March a month of contrasts
Release Date : 30 March 2012
Weather scientists in Reading have recorded the highest March temperature since 1965 - but also a record number of foggy starts and the biggest temperature contrasts for more than 50 years.
As well as a lack of rain, adding to the region's acute drought problems, meteorologists recorded the highest March temperature at the University of Reading since 1965 on Wednesday this week (28 March).
Dr Roger Brugge, at the University's Department of Meteorology, said as of Friday March 30, Reading had seen a remarkably dry, sunny and warm start to the spring.
Dr Brugge said: "High pressure has been the outstanding feature of the weather of March 2012. The mean pressure at sea level so far this March has been 1028 mb in Reading - and this high pressure has resulted in mainly dry conditions and a continuation of the dry weather we had for much of the winter.
"The rainfall total for March so far stands at 20.6 mm - or just under half the normal March total. There have been much drier March months recently (in 1990 barely 10 mm fell), but the total rainfall since the start of September 2011 amounts to only 262 mm (10.3 inches) - or a deficit for that period of 135 mm (5.3 inches). This lack of rain has occurred at a time when winter rainfall normally recharges the aquifers and March itself is the eleventh dry month in the last 13.
"Large areas of high pressure, such as the ones we've had this month, tend to be associated with either clear skies and sunny days - or with foggy spells and sometimes low cloud. While the low cloud has not been too much of a problem this March, we have seen plenty of early morning fogs and prolonged sunshine. There have been 8 mornings with fog at 9 a.m. during March - the average figure for March is about one morning with fog, while since 1960 only the seven days with fog in March 1969 came close to this month's total.
"Sunny conditions, coupled with light winds, gave us some very warm afternoons from the 22nd onwards. Of particular note were the 23rd and 24th (when 20.1 C was reached each day) and the 28th (when 21.4 C was recorded. The latter date came close to passing the highest March temperature on record at the University in 1965, when a reading of 22.8 C was noted.
"Interestingly, the same clear skies that gave us long sunny spells and high temperatures also allowed the temperature to drop sharply overnight - such that in the 28th we had a slight air frost (-1.3 C minimum temperature) and a minimum temperature of -4.6 C at grass tip level - gardeners beware! The daily range in temperature of 22.7 degC on the 28th was remarkable - the greatest daily temperature range in March since before 1960.
'Light meter in the sky' opens a window into the secret world of clouds
Release Date : 02 March 2012
On a foggy spring morning, as experienced in parts of the UK over the past few days, looking to the horizon, it can be difficult to tell where the land ends and the sky begins. Now scientists at the University of Reading have found a new way to see inside and above clouds.
Atmospheric scientists from Reading's Department of Meteorology have designed a sunlight-measuring instrument that uses the natural swinging and spinning motion of a rising weather balloon to distinguish clouds from clear air. The device, described in a paper published in the American Institute of Physics' journal Review of Scientific Instruments, may provide higher-resolution measurements of clouds than is currently possible, particularly for thin clouds - which could help meteorologists provide more accurate weather forecasts.
Anyone who has looked out of an aircraft window when in cloud - or anyone in the fog in South East England over the past couple of days - will have noticed that things look equally dull in all directions. Outside cloud or fog, however, the sun can dazzle depending on which way we look.
The team from the University of Reading exploited this by realising that, in the bland conditions inside a cloud, there would be less variation in sunlight compared with clear air conditions. They reasoned that, by simply comparing measured fluctuations in cloud and clear air, cloud could be sensed optically using a routine daytime weather balloon carrying their device.
Laboratory experiments demonstrated that the new airborne light meter worked consistently over the range of temperatures weather balloons encounter.
In test balloon flights, the optical technique did indeed report much smaller optical fluctuations within cloud as suspected, locating upper cloud boundaries with good precision, which they compared with the traditional measurement of temperature and relative humidity. The researchers add that the new system could also be used to determine lower boundaries of clouds in broken cloud conditions.
Dr Keri Nicoll, the University of Reading research scientist working on the project, said: "This new idea combines a weather measurement mainstay with simple technology in an innovative way. Knowing reliably where clouds occur is central to providing accurate weather forecasts."
Professor Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading, said: "Weather balloons have been a long-standing method for gathering data on weather conditions since 1929, but until now we have not been able to use them to visually measure clouds."
Shrinking arctic ice link to tough winters
The shrinking of Arctic sea ice is causing colder, snowier winters across much of North America, China and Europe, including the UK, according to a study.
The University of Reading's Dr Len Shaffrey told David Shukman it was "very early days" for the research, but it offered another tool for creating better forecasts in the future.
For the full interview, please go to the link below:
Warming since 2000 hidden below the surface of the ocean
Release Date : 24 January 2012
New research, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, has detected a sustained energy surplus in Earth's climate and warming below the sea surface since 2000 that is consistent with the continued build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Despite an apparent slow down in the rate of global surface warming over the last decade, the research suggests that the planet is steadily accumulating energy, at the rate of 0.5 Watts for each metre squared of the globe - equivalent to the heat of 250 billion kilowatt electric heaters distributed across the globe.
Global climate change results from an imbalance between the amount of sunlight absorbed by Earth and the thermal radiation emitted back to space.
Researchers from the US and British scientist Richard Allan, of the University of Reading, combined satellite measurements and sub-surface ocean observations to estimate the heat entering the planet since 2000.
Measurements of temperatures below the sea surface - up to 1,800m deep, more than a mile down - suggest that the oceans, which absorb nine-tenths of the additional heat caused by man-made global warming, are still getting warmer.
"Our results confirm that energy has indeed been accumulating in Earth's climate since 2000 and that much of this 'excess energy' has been continuing to heat the sub-surface ocean", Dr Allan said.
"Contrary to previous reports of 'missing energy' unaccounted for by measurements, our results show consistency between changes in energy entering the top of the atmosphere and reaching the ocean."
Dr Allan, whose work is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, was working with US-based colleagues from NASA, NOAA, and the Universities of Hawaii and Miami.
Decline in solar output unlikely to offset global warming
Release Date : 23 January 2012
New research has found that solar output is likely to reduce over the next 90 years but that will not substantially delay expected increases in global temperatures caused by greenhouse gases.
Carried out by the University of Reading and the Met Office, the study establishes the most likely changes in the Sun's activity and looks at how this could affect near-surface temperatures on Earth.
It found that the most likely outcome was that the Sun's output would decrease up to 2100, but this would only cause a reduction in global temperatures of 0.08 °C. This compares to an expected warming of about 2.5 °C over the same period due to greenhouse gases (according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's B2 scenario for greenhouse gas emissions that does not involve efforts to mitigate emissions).
Gareth Jones, a climate change detection scientist with the Met Office, said: "This research shows that the most likely change in the Sun's output will not have a big impact on global temperatures or do much to slow the warming we expect from greenhouse gases.
"It's important to note this study is based on a single climate model, rather than multiple models which would capture more of the uncertainties in the climate system."
The study also showed that if solar output reduced below that seen in the Maunder Minimum - a period between 1645 and 1715 when solar activity was at its lowest observed level - the global temperature reduction would be 0.13C.
During the 20th Century solar activity increased to a ‘grand maximum' and recent studies have suggested this level of activity is at or nearing its end.
Professor Mike Lockwood, an expert in solar studies at the University of Reading, used this as a starting point for looking at the most probable changes in the Sun's activity over the 21st Century.
Met Office scientists then placed the projections into one climate model to see how they may impact temperatures.
Professor Lockwood said: "The 11-year solar cycle of waxing and waning sunspot numbers is perhaps the best known way the Sun changes, but longer term changes in its brightness are more important for possible influences on climate.
"The most likely scenario is that we'll see an overall reduction of the Sun's activity compared to the 20th Century, such that solar outputs drop to the values of the Dalton Minimum (around 1820). The probability of activity dropping as low as the Maunder Minimum - or indeed returning to the high activity of the 20th Century - is about 8%. The findings rely on the assumption that the Sun's past behaviour is a reasonable guide for future solar activity changes."
Peter Stott, who also worked on the research for the Met Office, said: "Our findings suggest that a reduction of solar activity to levels not seen in hundreds of years would be insufficient to offset the dominant influence of greenhouse gases on global temperatures in the 21st century."
University scientist wins Royal Astronomical Society award
Release Date : 18 January 2012
A scientist from the University of Reading has won a prestigious prize for his research which includes revealing the secrets of the Sun's magnetic cycles.
Dr Mathew Owens, from the Department of Meteorology, has been awarded the Fowler Prize by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The awards are given to individuals who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to Astronomy and Geophysics sciences at an early stage of their research.
Mathew's research includes determining changes in Sun's magnetic field and how this evolves over solar cycles. This plays an important role in understanding how the Sun's energy output has varied in the distance past and may change in the future, which may be vital for Earth's climate.
Dr Owens said: "It's a real honour to be recognised in this way. Being a space physicist in a meteorology department, I'm particularly grateful to receive the Fowler prize, as Peter (the son in the father-son-wife trio after which the prize is named) performed important work in both cosmic ray measurement and meteorology."
Professor Giles Harrison, Head of the Department of Meteorology commented: "The sun has many subtle effects on the atmosphere and we are delighted that Mathew Owen's pioneering work is already receiving such distinguished recognition."
Dr Owens' early research was mainly concerned with the global structure and dynamics of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). These massive eruptions of material and magnetic field from the Sun are known to cause major disturbances in the near-Earth space environment, and understanding their properties is of societal value as well as being a major unsolved scientific problem.
RAS President Professor Roger Davies added: "Dr Owens is a talented solar-terrestrial physicist with an impressive record. I'm delighted that the RAS has recognised his work with the Fowler Award and wish him every success in his future scientific career."
Dr Owens will be presented with the Fowler Prize (£500) at the 2012 National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2012) that will take place from 27-30 March in Manchester.
Reading scientists comment on UK Climate Change Risk Assessment
Release Date : 26 January 2012
Published today (26 January 2012), the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment provides a national overview of the impacts of climate change - those that pose the most pressing risks to the UK - but also the opportunities.
It is the Government's first risk assessment as required under the Climate Change Act 2008. The assessment marks the first major step in the Government's programme to help the country prepare for the risks and opportunities that climate change could bring.
Find out more and see how research from the Walker Institute at the University of Reading has helped inform the new report.
Professor Nigel Arnell, Walker Institute Director, University of Reading, said: "The Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) represents a vital step in highlighting and managing the risks and opportunities from climate change in the UK. The assessment looks at possible impacts of climate change across a range of sectors, through the 21st century. The assessment identifies coastal and river flooding, heat waves and pressure on water resources as some of the most pressing risks for the UK.
"The language of risk is essential when addressing climate change, because, while we can expect the UK to get warmer, we don't know all the details of how temperature and rainfall will change at a particular place. The language of risk resonates with business and provides a way to build climate change adaptation in to plans for the future.
"While the assessment provides a national overview, risks will depend on the particular business you are in. Many of these risks will be complex, and many may arise from climate changes in other parts of the world. It is important for organisations to assess their own individual risks and how they may adapt to them, and this needs close cooperation between the scientific community, public sector and business. The CCRA provides an excellent starting point for this cooperation."
Professor Rowan Sutton, Climate Director in the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, said: "Assessing the risks that climate change poses to the UK is a vital and urgent task, and one which involves numerous scientific challenges.
"The first UK Climate Change Risk assessment is an important landmark. As well as raising awareness about the risks we face, it highlights the need for further research to refine our knowledge in order to provide more detailed advice which policy and decision makers need to design cost-effective adaptation strategies."
Reading's top players working together to become more sustainable
Release Date : 16 January 2012
More than 100 delegates attended an initial conference to start the planning process for Reading's next Climate Change Strategy at the University of Reading on Thursday 12th January.
The event, hosted at the University's Palmer building on the Whiteknights campus, marks the beginning of a process that will see businesses, residents, and the public sector across Reading joining forces to forge a sustainable future for the town.
Delegates were challenged by speaker Dennis Moynihan, from the Institute for Sustainability, to 'make the magic happen' by bringing about a sustainable and prosperous future for people in Reading.
Sally Coble from the Environment Agency and chair of the Reading Climate Change Partnership, who organised the event, said: "Partnership working is the key to making the magic happen. We're going to need all the major players involved and Thursday's event was a great way to start this off."
Sir David Bell, the University of Reading's Vice-Chancellor, opened the event by welcoming leaders from Reading's businesses, community and public sector bodies.
"The University is delighted to host this consultation on climate change," he said.
"With our Centre for Food Security, Walker Institute for Climate Research and our Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments Centre, we are proud of our research and teaching excellence in this area and take seriously our role as a major player in the Reading Climate Change Partnership."
Peter Harper, Head of Research and Innovation at the Centre for Alternative Technology and co-author of Zero Carbon Britain, was the keynote speaker at the event, outlining a practical but radical option for Reading to play its part in helping the UK cut carbon emissions to zero by 2030.
Sally Coble, Chair of the Reading Climate Change Partnership and Ben Burfoot, Sustainability Manager at Reading Borough Council, presented an update on the progress so far on the current climate change strategy for Reading, which runs until 2013.
Delegates then split into workshops to put together initial proposals for the next strategy, which will need to see radical and positive change if Reading is to achieve a low-carbon future resilient to the effects of climate change.
Further information on the development of the climate change strategy will be hosted by the business community on Reading Green Business network website www.rgbn.org.uk over the coming months. The draft strategy will be out for public consultation in the summer.
University honours distinguished climate scientist
Release Date : 22 December 2011
The University of Reading was proud to award an Honorary Degree to one of the world's foremost climate scientists at this year's December Graduation Ceremony.
Professor Julia Slingo, Chief Scientist at the Met Office and a leading figure in climate research for more than 30 years, was awarded a Doctor of Science.
Julia has made significant and lasting contributions to many aspects of climate science and is best known for her work on clouds, which remain a primary source of uncertainty in climate models, and the meteorology of the tropics.
Professor Slingo has held the most senior roles in climate science. She has contributed to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, and to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Julia has a long association with the University of Reading. She was a member of staff for nearly 20 years, from 2002 as Director of NCAS-Climate, the Climate Division of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. In 2006 she founded the University's Walker Institute for Climate System Research.
Professor Slingo was presented with her Honorary Degree by Professor Stephen Belcher, the Joint Met Office Chair in Weather Systems at Reading, and until recently Head of the University's School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
He said: "The University was delighted to recognise Julia in this way. Her work has clearly shown the different controlling influences of the oceans and the maritime continents on tropical climate, and the important part this then plays in the global climate, seasonal prediction and climate change. Through this work she has shaped our understanding and our response to the dangers posed by climate change facing India, China and some of the most vulnerable countries of the world."
In 2008 Professor Slingo became the first female President of the Royal Meteorological Society and was awarded an OBE for services to climate science. Since 2009 Julia has been the Chief Scientist at the UK Met Office.
Professor Slingo said: "This is a huge personal honour from the university where I spent many happy years and achieved my most productive research. To be recognised in this way by my friends and colleagues has given me enormous pleasure and I am glad that I have been able to play a part in the growing reputation of Reading's world-leading Department of Meteorology."
The 2011 December Graduation Ceremony took place on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 December.
ENDS
For all media enquiries please contact James Barr, University of Reading Press Officer on 0118 378 7115 or by email on j.w.barr@reading.ac.uk
2011 - The second hottest year on record in Reading.
2011 was the second warmest year locally on record, with only 2006 being warmer. This statistic is possibly the most surprising one of the year – the summer was cool and dull, but was compensated for by warm, dry and sunny spring and autumn seasons; even December was on the mild side this year in contrast to 2010. While 30°C was not reached this year, there were many very warm or hot days during these two seasons – and the year exhibited a marked lack of low temperatures, the lowest being just -4.2°C which occurred rather late in the winter in March.
Unfortunately, heatwaves were short-lived, usually being 2-3 days in length. The mean maximum temperature in 2011 was (at 15.6°C) higher than that in 2006 but below that in 2003 when the summer was much hotter.
Sunshine exhibited an unusual distribution during the year; after 227.3h of sunshine during a sunny April (this total was 42% above the average) the sunshine duration recorded in the seven subsequent months was less in each case than in the preceding month – although the months of June to September each had very similar sunshine amounts. Even October had only one hour per day less sunshine than June.
There were few days with thunder or snow during the year, while about 10 per cent of the year’s rain fell in a few hours in August on the 18th. Overall rainfall was only 3 per cent less than what we would expect in a year – the spring and autumn were dry but the summer rather wet.
Other features of the weather in 2011
- The minimum temperature of 12.7°C on 13 January made this one of the warmest January nights in the past 30 years.
- 17 January was the wettest January day for over 50 years and resulted in some localised flooding around the town the next day.
- 17 days were sunless in February; not since 1972 has February been so dull in the Reading area.
- It was the mildest February since 2002 with the lowest number of February air frosts since 1995.
- March was a dry and sunny month – the driest March since 1987.
- Only 1.8mm of rain fell during April.
- April was the sunniest month of the year; in the past 50 years only 2007 and 1984 have been slightly sunnier in April.
- April was the hottest April for over 94 years locally – and the maximum temperature of 26.1°C on the 23rd was the highest April temperature since before 1961.
- May was the only month of the year to have sunshine on every day.
- May was colder during the day than April by 0.8degC.
- All three summer months (June to August) were cooler than average.
- 25°C was not reached during July – for only the third time since 1980.
- August was the wettest month of 2011, with 127mm being almost two and half times the average for August, making it the wettest August since 2004. Of this 59.5mm fell on the 18th – a day when the maximum temperature failed to reach 15°C - and this was the wettest of any day since 1992.
- The main heatwave of the year occurred during a sunny spell from 28 September to 3 October.
- A remarkable 27.8°C was recorded on 1 October – only 0.4degC below that recorded on 1 August, the hottest afternoon of 2011.
- October was warm, sunny and dry overall – probably one of the seven sunniest Octobers in the past 100 years locally.
- All three autumn months (September to November) were dry and warm.
- The year ended on a dull note with just 2h of sunshine in the final nine days, seven of which were sunless.
This summary of the weather of 2011, produced by Roger Brugge and Mike Stroud, is based on daily observations made at the University of Reading climatological station. For more details on the observations of 2011 contact r.brugge@reading.ac.uk.
Research team wins major European computing award for global climate modelling
Release Date : 07 November 2011
A significant step forward has been taken in the study of current and future climate with the award of a new grant that allows a team led by the University of Reading to use one of the world's most powerful computers.
The Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE) Access Committee has granted substantial computing resources to a Joint Weather & Climate Research Programme (JWCRP) team of researchers.
The team comprises climate scientists at the Met Office and at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) Climate, and is led by Pier Luigi Vidale, Willis Professor of Climate System Science and Climate Hazards at the University of Reading's Meteorology department and Director of the Weather and Climate Hazards Laboratory.
Professor Vidale's team will use the HERMIT (a TIER-0 machine) supercomputer in Stuttgart, Germany, to conduct a series of 25-year simulations under both current climate conditions and a climate change scenario. Out of the 53 project applications submitted to PRACE, only 24 have been awarded a share of the available 610 million core-hours. The JWCRP team has been awarded 144 million core-hours computing time, the largest amount assigned to one team.
Professor Vidale said: "With our current level of resources on national TIER-1 machines, this experiment would take 33 years to complete. Access to HERMIT is a true quantum-leap for UK climate science. We are grateful to PRACE for the continued international recognition of our team's world-leading capability in climate modelling."
PRACE is an association of 21 member countries creating a pan-European research infrastructure for large-scale scientific and engineering applications at the highest performance level.
Reading Professor to become Head of the Met Office's Hadley Centre
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Professor Stephen Belcher
Prof Stephen Belcher, currently Joint Met Office Chair in the Department of Meteorology, has been appointed as the new Head of the Met Office Hadley Centre (and Deputy Director of Climate Science at the Met Office), from January 2012.
The new appointment at the Hadley Centre is on an 80% basis and Stephen will be retaining a 20% position as Professor here in Meteorology. Stephen’s role will strengthen our already productive links with the Met Office, while allowing him a continuing role in the development of the School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences and to lead his strong boundary layer meteorology research group.
We are delighted to see another prominent Reading academic appointed to a key role at the Met Office. We offer our congratulations to Stephen and wish him all the very best in this important role for UK and international climate science.
Read the Met Office press release>>
One of the world's foremost climate change research centres, the Met Office Hadley Centre is co-funded by Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It provides guidance to Government and business on the science of climate change.
Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tony Downes, said: "We are proud that Stephen is to take on this challenging new role, whilst keeping a part-time appointment at Reading. We look forward to an even closer collaboration between the Department of Meteorology here and the Met Office Hadley Centre."
Professor Belcher said: "I am very excited to be joining the Met Office Hadley Centre and to contributing to its world wide reputation in climate science. To be the Head will be exciting and a privilege."
Professor Belcher has held key science leadership roles in the Department of Meteorology and has pursued a highly productive research career at Reading, Stanford University in the USA and the University of Cambridge.
He will take up his Met Office Hadley Centre leadership responsibilities from January 2012, and will continue, part time, his work at Reading into the effects of climate change on cities, and the role of the oceans in climate.
Professor Belcher's scientific interests include atmospheric and oceanic turbulence, boundary layer meteorology, especially urban meteorology and the impact of climate change on urban areas. Stephen has won a number of awards including the Smiths Prize, University of Cambridge, and the Rosenstiel Award for Oceanography, University of Miami.
Leading climate change professor contributes to Government report on Migration and Global Environmental Change
Professor Nigel Arnell, Director of the University of Reading's Walker Institute for Climate System Research, is part of the lead expert group for the Foresight report on Migration and Environmental Change, published today.
The report reveals that "the major challenges associated with migration and environmental change have been underestimated. By focusing solely on people who might leave vulnerable areas due to environmental change, we risk neglecting those who will be ‘trapped' and those who will actually move towards danger".
During the report's two-year preparation, Professor Arnell has been part of the expert group, focusing particularly on climate change over the coming decades and the impacts this might have. Drought, flooding and water availability are highlighted throughout the report as key impacts directly and indirectly affecting migration patterns.
Professor Arnell is Director of the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at the University of Reading. The Institute aims to improve understanding and prediction of our changing climate and its impacts over seasons, decades and beyond, across a range of applications. www.walker-institute.ac.uk
The UK Government Foresight Programme was set up to use the latest scientific and other evidence combined with futures analysis to tackle complex issues and help policymakers make decisions affecting our future. The programme reports directly to the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and the Cabinet Office. It is a part of the Government Office for Science within the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.
For executive summary of the report, please see:
Hot end to September explained
Dr Pete Inness, from the University of Reading's internationally renowned Department of Meteorology, asks is this weather that unusual, a guide to our winter weather and an indication of climate change?
Is the predicted weather unusual?
"This forecast, although it is predicting temperatures well above average, is still not going for anything excessively unusual and a spell of warm weather now isn't something we never expect to see. The fact that we even have a name for it (an Indian Summer) suggests that it must happen on a fairly regular basis."
Is the unusual weather related to climate change?
No, the natural variability in the UK weather is large, and so one warm autumn or cold summer does not either prove or disprove climate change. Climate change is all about long term trends, which are hard to detect in a weather record which has very large natural variability."
Will the UK be hotter than Southern Europe?
"The ridge of high pressure that's bringing us the warmer temperatures is set to build across much of Europe, bringing warm air up from the south. Thus most places in Europe will be pretty warm this week."
Does this week's weather give us an indication of the winter to come?
"Due to the variability of our weather, warm temperatures in late September/early October tell us nothing one way or the other about the forthcoming winter. The systems that are bringing us warm weather this week will be long gone by winter and our weather doesn't have any real memory - i.e. conditions this week will not have an effect on weather patterns more than a couple of weeks into the future."
Facts and figures
The UK record for September is 35.6 degrees C in 1906 (the 2nd of September), although this figure is not without some reservations as its rather old so pre-dates modern observing practices.
The highest temperature anywhere in England in October was on the 1st of October 1985, with 29.4 degrees C in Cambridgeshire.
The September record for Reading is 29.6 degrees C in 2006 which was an exceptionally warm September.
If the temperature reaches 26 degrees C at the weekend we would just break the October temperature record for Reading which currently stands at 25.5 degrees C in 1985.
Leading climate scientist joins University of Reading and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science
Release Date : 30 August 2011
The University of Reading's renowned Department of Meteorology and the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) are to be further strengthened by the appointment of a leading climate scientist.
In September, the Department welcomed Professor Bryan Lawrence as a new Chair in Weather and Climate Computing, a position jointly funded by NCAS, the research centre for atmospheric science of the UK's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
Professor Lawrence will also become the Director of Models and Data in NCAS.
Climate modelling is key to predicting climate change. By simulating the interactions of the atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice, models are used to project future changes resulting from increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.
In the eleven years of his previous role as Director of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Centre for Environmental Data Archival, at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Professor Lawrence has built up an international reputation for addressing the issues associated with managing and curating environmental data. This includes the very large datasets associated with climate modelling and earth observation.
After having major roles in developing both the UK and European strategies for climate modelling, at Reading, Bryan hopes to contribute to turning those strategies into implementations which address the enormous climate simulation problems ahead.
Professor Simon Chandler-Wilde, Head of School, said: "We are delighted that Professor Lawrence is joining our leading Department of Meteorology, to strengthen our ability to develop the next generation of weather and climate models. We are particularly pleased that this is a joint initiative, cementing our already strong relationship with NCAS."
Planes make rain that wets airport terrain
Chris Westbrook of the University of Reading in England, said what is new in this study is that use of a computer model to study the reaction of the cloud to this process, in particular the effect on the air motion around the hole.
Westbrook, who has done similar research but was not part of this team, said that finding differs from what has been seen in England, "so this is certainly still an area of uncertainty and active study. It may perhaps be that the air circulation reverses in the later stages of the hole's evolution."
Understanding these processes, Westbrook added, can "give us some insight into the basic science of how clouds work, how the microscopic processes of tiny ice crystals and droplets interact with the large-scale air motion which drives the clouds, and how the seeds of precipitation are sown."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/30/ap/national/main20075932.shtml
30 June 2011
Global warming not to blame for 2011 droughts
ADD one more to the list: after the driest spring in more than 20 years, parts of eastern England are officially in a state of drought, according to the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This comes hard on the heels of some of the worst droughts on record across the globe, from Texas to China.
While global warming is an obvious suspect, there's no evidence that it is to blame. Though climate change models predict extended droughts and periods of intense rainfall for the end of the 21st century, they don't explain the current droughts, says Martin Hoerling at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "A lot of these extreme conditions are natural variations of the climate. Extremes happen, heat waves happen, heavy rains happen," he says.
Drought across the southern US - and heavy rains across the north of the country - are a result of La Nina, says Michael Hayes, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. An extended holding pattern in the jet stream, the same type of "blocking event" that caused last summer's heat wave in Russia, is responsible for this year's European droughts, says Michael Blackburn of the University of Reading, UK.
As for the apparent convergence of droughts worldwide, Mark Saunders of University College London says current conditions aren't that unusual. News media may simply be more tuned in to reporting extreme weather events.
15 June 2011
The new Ice Age: Climate change could slow as sun simmers down
The last time the sun went to sleep, there were frost fairs on the Thames and ice extended for miles into the North Sea.
Now scientists have unearthed evidence that the sun is poised to enter its first period of hibernation since the Little Ice Age of the early 1700s.
If they are right and its a big if it means global warming caused by greenhouse gases could be less severe over the next few decades than predicted.
The sun goes through a regular cycle of activity that peaks every 11 years.
During its most frenzied periods, huge magnetic storms erupt from the sun while vast sunspots appear on its surface. But during the quiet part of the cycle the solar minimum eruptions and sunspots are rarer.
Astronomers say the sun should now be building up to its next maximum and that sunspots should be appearing on its surface. But three separate studies reported at an astronomy conference in America this week have found clues that the sun is not waking up on schedule.
Dr Frank Hill, of Americas National Solar Observatory, showed that a regular jet-stream current within the sun which was due in 2008 and 2009 has failed to start up again.
Meanwhile, Dr Richard Altrock, of Sacramento Peak Observatory who has been studying the suns atmosphere, the corona, for 40 years found that a tell-tale march of magnetic activity towards the poles that heralds the start of the solar maximum has failed to materialise.
And Matthew Penn, also of the National Solar Observatory, has shown that the strength of the magnetic field inside sunspots has been much weaker than expected and is in steady decline.
If this continues, the sun will have lost its spots completely by 2022.
The last time the sun went quiet was during the Maunder Minimum from 1645 to 1715, when Europe and America suffered a succession of bitterly cold winters called the Little Ice Age.
The Thames which was wider and slower in those days regularly froze over, while sea ice choked the coasts of England.
Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading, said: Our research shows there is an eight per cent chance that we will return to Maunder Minimum conditions over the next 40 years.
But, given the observed and predicted rise in greenhouse gases, we find it would do no more than slow global warming a little.
However, Joanna Haigh, professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, said: In a future grand minimum, the sun might again cool the planet by up to one degree. Greenhouse gases, on the other hand, are expected to raise global temperatures by between 1.5C and 4.5C by 2100.
So even if the predictions are correct, global warming will outstrip the suns ability to cool.
17 June 2011
New ash cloud 'not as severe'
Scientists at the University of Reading believe ash from the latest volcano eruption in Iceland will be less severe than last year
Professor Giles Harrison of Department of Meteorology said 'The situation is very changeable compared to last year, mainly due to the winds. Any disruption to aircraft is more likely to be much less than last year'
http:/www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2093256_new_ash_cloud_not_as_severe_
25th May 2011
Reading Research gives more accurate analysis of volcanic dust cloud
Research undertaken at the University of Reading on last year's volcano eruption in Iceland is already having a direct benefit on our understanding of the dispersion of the Grimsvotn volcanic ash cloud.
Specially designed weather balloon probes that Reading used last year to measure the ash plume in Scotland has been supplied to the Met Office this week for the same purpose. This will allow a direct comparison between the two eruptions.
Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading, said: "Analysis of multiple measurements made last year has improved the detail of volcanic ash forecasts. This research has been done in little more than a year and is already have a positive influence on our predictions.
"The situation is very changeable compared to last year, mainly due to the winds. Any disruption to aircraft is more likely to be more intermittent than last year.
"Interestingly the amount of volcanic lightning that the Grimsvotn volcano has produced is exceptional and 100 times higher than last year. It contributed to 20% of all lightning detected on the planet at the time. More lightning means the plume is much higher and carries more volcanic material."
Dr Helen Dacre, a Lecturer in Meteorology at the University, contributed to the research at Reading and recently had a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres.
Dr Dacre said: "The weather patterns are different to last year. In April 2010 a persistent high-pressure system was located over the UK and the north Atlantic resulting in the ash cloud being transported towards Europe and remaining stagnant in that region.
"Currently the weather situation is very dynamic. There is a deep low pressure system centred in the North Sea and this morning winds were north-westerly bringing ash
directly from Iceland to Scotland and the north of England."
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR367415.aspx
23rd May 2011
Leapfrogging
Damian Carrington's Environment Blog
How better time travel will improve climate modelling
Improving how time flows in weather and climate models means better results, and illustrates perfectly how science progresses
But in computer models of weather and climate, time has to jump forward in little steps to allow the next set of temperature, rain and other conditions to be calculated from the last. This stepping, Paul Williams at the University of Reading assures me, has the technical name of 'leapfrogging'.
See blog @:
Charged particles let the sunshine in
Dust carried high in the atmosphere can align through electrical interactions, contradicting its current representation in climate models. That's according to measurements taken by British researchers Professor Giles Harrison and Dr Keri Nicoll.
In August 2009, Harrison and colleague Keri Nicoll from the University of Reading measured the electrical properties of dust blown from the Sahara into the atmosphere above the Cape Verde Islands using weather balloons. While dust charges have been measured in the atmosphere near the Earth's surface, there is little information from higher altitudes. So the British team exploited two custom-designed instruments mounted aboard a standard meteorological radiosonde.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/news/44773
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v4/n2/full/ngeo1082.html#/electric-desert-dust
Department of Meteorology and Earth Systems Science Centre awarded PhD Studentships for 2011
The Department of Meteorology and Earth Systems Science Centre have been awarded 8 PhD studentships from NERC to begin in October 2011.
Applicants should visit http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/pg-research/ for more details and apply as soon as possible in order to be considered for the interview day on March 2nd. Other funding opportunities also exist.
The Earthcare Satellite
Costly Euro space laser reviewed .
By Jonathan Amos,Science Correspondent BBC News
European scientists are being asked whether they still want to go ahead with a pioneering space laser mission. The Earthcare satellite would study the role clouds and atmospheric particles play in a changing climate. Professor Anthony Illinworth of Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, is the European chair of the panel of scientists that advises ESA on the Earthcare mission
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12263529
January 2011
Queensland Flooding January 2011
Dr Nick Klingaman, a Walker Institute researcher funded by the Queensland government discusses the recent Queensland flooding on BBC News
http:www.walker-institute.ac.uk/news/news_Queenslandflooding_Jan2011.htm
BBC2 Horizon - "What is One Degree?"
Dr Janet Barlow shows Ben Miller the Meteorology Weather Station on top of the BT Tower for Horizon programme "What is One Degree?" on BBC2 on 10th January 2011. The programme focuses on the comedian's exploration of the question
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xhz90
Severe Winters are here to stay
Severe winters could become the norm in the UK according to a report from weather experts at the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading.
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2085125_severe_winters_here_to_stay
7th January 2011
It's that time of year again!
Recent cold weather link to:
http://www.walker-institute.ac.uk/news/news_cold_Dec2010.htm
It's that time of the year again - a major international climate conference and unusually cold weather over Europe! What's happening? In case the present cold spell in the UK gives the impression that global warming has gone away, it might be worth noting that last week eastern Europe and south eastern Europe had temperatures well above normal http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/wctan1.gif
Further east, south-western Russia was up to 8C above normal.
To the west of us, very warm air moved over Greenland. For example, on 29 November a temperature of +11 C was recorded at Sdr Stroemfjord and +9C at Jacobshavn.
This was all part of a huge rather stationary wave pattern that is nicely shown by the average pressure field high in the atmosphere for 26-29 November given in
http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/Data/CurrentWeather/this_week/Z250_weeklymean.large.gif
The pattern is known as blocking. We had a lot of blocking last winter which gave us the cold winter. When it occurs repeatedly in the right location in summer we get the very hot weather of 2003 and 2006.
!st December 2010
Pier Luigi Vidale apointed to the Willis Chair in Climate System Science and Climate Hazards
We are delighted to announce that Professor Pier Luigi Vidale has been appointed, with immediate effect, to a new position in the School: the Willis Chair in Climate System Science and Climate Hazards. The new position is jointly supported by the University of Reading, through a gift from the Willis insurance group, and by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. In his new role Professor Vidale will become Director of a new Weather and Climate Hazards Laboratory, with the remit of addressing the fundamental research challenges concerned with understanding the drivers of variability and change in weather and climate hazards, and the applications of this knowledge, particularly to the insurance industry. Professor Vidale will additionally continue a role as a Senior Scientist in NCAS-Climate. The new laboratory is itself a joint initiative of the School, NCAS, and the Walker Institute; its development will be further supported by a Lectureship in Weather and Climate Risks for Insurance, fully funded by Willis, which will be advertised shortly. These are exciting developments for both the School and NCAS, and we offer our warm congratulations to Pier Luigi
on his appointment.
November 2010
Welcome to the Boffin Bank
The Sunday Times Magazine Sunday 21st November
Dr Paul Williams, Royal Society Research Fellow (NCAS-Climate), featured in Sunday Times article. Welcome to the Boffin Bank - The brain drain has finally been plugged. Young scientists like Paul are staying in Britain, fired up with breathtaking new ideas and inspired by a Nobel prize.
The Sun joins the Climate Club
Professor Giles Harrison, Professor Mike Lockwood and Dr Tim Woollings of Department of Meteorology contribute to New Scientist article in Issue 2779 .
25 September 2010
Met members featured on BBC Wild Weather TV programme
Members of the Department of Meteorology were featured on BBC TV programme 'Wild Weather ' on Monday 20th September. See interviews with Prof Anthony Illingworth, Prof Giles Harrison, Janet Barlow, Keri Nicoll, Roger Brugge on iplayer at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00tys18/Wild_Weather_Climate_in_the_City/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tylw1
September 2010
Scientists comment on Pakistan Floods
Scientists comment on Pakistan floods, see:
Dr Andy Turner interviewed Radio France International
http://www.english.rfi.fr/general/20100815-blocked-jet-stream-blame-weather-catastrophe
Brian Hoskins interviewed by ITV News
Dr Mike Blackburn provides information and diagnostics to: Channel 4 news>>
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/asia_pacific/pakistan+floods+struggle+to+reach+victims/3738877
Dr Mike Blackburn interviewed for New Scientist article>>
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727730.101-frozen-jet-stream-links-pakistan-floods-russian-fires.html
Dr Andy Turner interviewed by BBC West Midlands
August 2010
Is Climate Change burning Russia
Russia has sweltered under an intense heat wave since mid-july, recording its highest temperatures. The heat has caused widespread drought, ruined crops and encouraged wildfires that have blanketed Moscow in smog.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19304-is-climate-change-burning-russia.html
Weather Kite gets second wind
The red kite is now a commonly-seen bird of prey in the skies of the south-east, but a specially designed artificial blue kite promises a new way to make weather measurements.
Writing in the Review of Scientific Instruments, scientists at the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology describe a high-tech kite developed to measure wind speed. Kites have long been used to transport instruments up into the lower atmosphere, but rather than just offering a convenient "sky hook", the new approach uses the kite itself to detect the wind variations.
The wind speed varies the kite line's tension, which can be measured conveniently at the ground, rather than by carrying a sensor up on the kite aloft.
Kieran Walesby, who developed the instrumentation as part of his postgraduate research work at Reading, said: "This technique allows wind speeds above the ground to be measured without the need for a fixed instrument tower, and is therefore very portable."
The kite used in these experiments was specially built in the Department of Meteorology, and was combined with a tension-measuring system optimised to overcome temperature variations during long kite flights. The kite line tension is found by measuring the small distortions generated on a metal ring used to anchor the kite, using a set of miniature strain gauges.
Professor Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics who supervised the work, said: "Benjamin Franklin's 1752 experiment is a famous early example of using a kite to measure atmospheric properties. Our system reasserts the kite's value in atmospheric science, through offering an easily-implemented method for investigating lower atmosphere air flows, such as those which transport pollution."
http://www.physorg.com/news199108276.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-07/aiop-sws072710.php
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Using-Kites-to-Conduct-Wind-Speed-Measurements-149540.shtml
http://www.sciencecodex.com/sensing_wind_speed_with_kites
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR291462.aspx
August 2010
Russia Lowers Grain Forecast Amid Fires
The scorching temperatures and dry skies threatening Russia's wheat harvests have also been beating down on Western Europe, which is forecasting lower output of crops from French wheat to Italian tomatoes.
Ben Lloyd-Hughes, a climate scientist at the University of Reading's Walker Institute in England, says pockets of Western Europe also are being affected by drought, but that Southwest Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are hardest hit.
4th August 2010
Attack of the vapours - how jet trails block out the sunshine
If you are jetting off for an exotic holiday this summer, spare a thought for those youleave behind.
These vapour trails create clouds which, experts claim, can block out sunlight for millions. This is the reason that our skies appeared unusually blue when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull was erupting, and all flights over Britain were banned.
The phenomenon occurs when aircraft fly above 25,000ft, where the air temperature is around minus 30C. This causes water vapour emitted by the engines to crystallise and form the familiar white streaks across the sky, known as contrails.
These can be short-lived. But if there is already a significant amount of moisture in the atmosphere they can linger for hours, as the excess water vapour from the engines tips the surrounding air past its saturation point.
This acts as a catalyst to speed up the natural process of cloud formation. Cirrus clouds the wisp-like formations seen at high altitude begin to form around the contrails.
Scientists say these grow into thin layers of cloud and can cover up to an astonishing 20,000 square miles of sky or about a fifth of the UK.
The level of moisture in the air at high altitudes is unrelated to weather conditions at ground level, which is why it is possible to see contrails on a clear day.
Reading Universitys Professor Keith Shine, an expert in clouds, said that those formed by aircraft fumes could linger for hours, depriving those areas under busy flight paths, such as London and the Home Counties, of summer sunshine.
See full article at:
June 2010
BBC Interviews at Department of Meteorology
Dr Bethan Harris interviewed by BBC Meridian, Reading 107 radio and BBC Radio Berkshire regarding volcanic plume
University weather balloon measures volcanic plume
More accurate data about the potential danger to aircraft from volcanic plume is being gathered by scientists from Department of Meteorology, University of Reading. Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics and Keri Nicoll, whose PhD project included developing the charge sensor, set up a ground station at Stranraer under the dust cloud.
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR275737.asp
20 April 2010
Professor Mike Lockwood examines Low solar activity link to cold UK winters
The UK and continental Europe could be gripped by more frequent cold winters in the future as a result of low solar activity, say researchers.
They identified a link between fewer sunspots and atmospheric conditions that "block" warm, westerly winds reaching Europe during winter months.
But they added that the phenomenon only affected a limited region and would not alter the overall global warming trend.
The findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
"By recent standards, we have just had what could be called a very cold winter and I wanted to see if this was just another coincidence or statistically robust," said lead author Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK.
Nature
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100414/full/news.2010.184.html
Science
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/calm-sun-is-bringing-a-chill-to-.html
BBC website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8615789.stm
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627564.800-quiet-sun-puts-europe-on-ice.html
Physics World
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/42298
Daily Express
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/169300/Weather-Britain-is-facing-a-new-Little-Ice-Age
April 2010
Professor Anthony Illingworth Awarded RMS Mason Medal
Professor Anthony Illingworth, Emeritus Professor of Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, has been awarded the Mason medal of the Royal Meteorological Society. The Mason medal is the premier award bestowed by the Society for "outstanding contributions to the understanding of the fundamental processes that determine the variability and predictability of weather and climate".
March 2010
RMS L.F. RICHARDSON Award for Andy Turner
Dr Andy Turner has been awarded the LF Richardson Award of the Royal Meteorological Society. It is awarded annually for an outstanding paper published in the preceding four years in the Quarterly Journal, International Journal of Climatology, Meteorological Applications or Atmospheric Science Letters by a member of the Society who was under the age of 35 at the time of submission. Andy's citation says that:
"....It is generally regarded that the most serious impacts of climate change will be felt through the volatility of the monsoon system rather than through changes in the mean rainfall. Dr Turner's contribution in this challenging area has been outstanding and he has made a very significant contribution to the literature through a series of outstanding papers in the Quarterly Journal and ASL...."
March 2010
Scientists in Climate Change Sign Up
Many scientists from the Department sign up to statement from the UK science community issued (9/12/10): "We, members of the UK science community, have the utmost confidence in the observational evidence for global warming and the scientific basis for concluding that it is due primarily to human activities........" Read full statement
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6950783.ece
Quote on 'Wall Street'
Professor Nigel Arnell of The Walker Institute for Climate System Research quoted in the Wall Street Journal (16/02/2010)
"The IPCC has also cited a study by British climatologist Nigel Arnell claiming that global warming could deplete water resources for as many as 4.5 billion people by the year 2085"
Letters to the Newspapers
Kathy Maskell of Walker Institute for Climate System Research has letters in The Observer and the Reading Evening Post
Climate change: Sceptics fiddle while the planet burns
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/jan/31/big-issue-climate-change
The Burning Issue of Climate Change
http://www.getreading.co.uk/blogs/andanotherthing/s/2066277_burning_issue_of_climate_change
Britain's Big Freeze
Professor Anthony Illingworth of Department of Meteorology, interviewed on Channel 4 'Britain's Big Freeze' programme
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britains-big-freeze
January 2010
Reaching for the sky
Dr Janet Barlow, Dr Curtis Wood and Rosy Wilson of Department of Meteorology will set up an Advanced Climate Technology Urban Atmospheric Laboratory on London's BT Tower in Maple Street for a long-term study into how large buildings affect the city's weather patterns
Reading Midweek - Wednesday 3 February 2010
Why was it cold in the UK, but not across the world?
Dr John Methven interviewed for the BBC news website about the cold January conditions in the UK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8493168.stm
January 2010
Dr John Methven features on BBC Inside Out
Dr John Methven of Department of Meteorology has been filmed by BBC Southwest Inside Out programme on the Met Office/NERC research aircraft mission gathering observations which could help to improve numerical models and weather forecasts. Link to feature on BBC I Player http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071mt5
January 2010
The Big Freeze
Dr Pete Inness quoted in the Times about the cold and snowy conditions over Europe.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article6982249.ece
Dr Pete Inness talks to the Observer about the latest cold weather over the UK and explains why it doesn't disprove global warming.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/10/climate-change-uk-big-freeze
January 2010
Congratulations to Dr Valerio Lucarini
Valerio Lucarini has been awarded the Outstanding Young Scientist Award of the European Geosciences Union:
www.egu.eu/awards-medals/award/oys_award.html
This award covers achievements obtained in any section of Geosciences, so competition was fierce. He will be given a medal and will give a plenary lecture at the next EGU assembly to be held in Vienna on May 2-7 2010.
January 2010
Sydney Dust Storm
Dr Peter Inness of Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, was interviewed by Channel 4 News about the weather conditions which led to the Sydney dust storm, and whether climate change related drought made such events more likely in future.
23 August 2009
Dr Richard Allan joins Department as new reader in Climate Science
We're very pleased to welcome Dr Richard Allan as the new Reader in Climate Science in the Department of Meteorology. Richard comes to us from NERC's National Centre for Earth Observation where his research focussed on the fundamental question of how much the Earth will warm this century and the implications for the global water cycle. He has an extensive list of peer reviewed publications and contributed to the most recent assessment by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.
Richard's expertise is in the use of Earth Observation data to explore fluctuations in clouds, water vapour and the Earth's radiative energy balance and using this information to assess the realism of climate prediction models and improve our understanding of the climate system. Richard completed his PhD in the Department in
1998 after which he joined the Met Office. He has spent time as a visiting scientist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton and returned to Reading to join the Environmental Systems Science Centre in 2003.
1 October 2009
Why didn't it turn out to be a BBQ summer?
Dr Mike Blackburn of Department of Meteorology, University of Reading interviewed on Radio 4's Material World on the wet summer of 2009 and why it didn't turn out to be quite the BBQ summer forecast by the Met Office.
Listen at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00mrgvg
30 September 2009
Countdown to Copenhagen
Professor Nigel Arnell of The Walker Institute for Climate system Research at the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading is quoted in the Guardian on the impacts of climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/sep/28/us-climate-change-copenhagen-schnellnhuber
Power stations behind surprising snowfalls
Dr Curtis Wood along with Professor Giles Harrison from the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology have concluded that emissions from industrial smoke could be the cause for sudden and probably hazardous snowfalls in their vicinities.
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR22244.aspx)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6244436/Smoke-from-powers-stations-could-cause-snow.html
29 September 2009
Natural Selection
Designers from three disciplines have collaborated on the Science of survival, the latest peripatetic exhibition to emerge from the Science Museum, London
The exhibition content was researched in consultation with UK Scientists including Dr Tim Wheeler of the Walker Institute for Climate Change Research at the University of Reading.
http://survival.scienceof.com/66/press/press-releases.html
From: FX Magazine - 1st September 2009
Rainspotting in Bangalore
How our changing climate is, and will be, affecting the Indian Monsoon
Dr Andy Turner, The Walker Institute for Climate System Research at the University of Reading is quoted in Independent's on-line journal, full article at:
http://community.livejournal.com/rainspotting/5664.html
24 September 2009
Cost of Adapting to climate change significantly under-estimated
Scientists will today warn that the UN negotiations aimed at tackling climate change are based on substantial underestimates of what it will cost to adapt to its impacts.
In a new report, they suggest that the real costs of adaptation are likely to be 2-3 times greater than estimates made by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and UN Climate negotiations should aim for substantially more funding. The report has been produced by a group of leading scientists from around the UK, including Professor Sir Brian Hoskins from the University of Reading
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR22158.asp
27th August 2009
Targeted investments in climate science could present enormous economic savings for the UK and Europe
Targeted investments in climate science could lead to major benefits in reducing the costs of adapting to a changing climate, according to new research published by scientists from the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). Published in the scientific journal, the Bulletin for the American Meteorological Society, the study shows that investments made now, can lead to as much as 10-20% improvement in climate predictions for the UK and Europe in the coming decades, and up to 20% across the rest of the globe.
Professor Rowan Sutton and Dr Ed Hawkin's work on investment in climate science extensively quoted :
http://www.walker-institute.ac.uk/news/in the news.htm
19th August 2009
Why raindrops come in many sizes
Why raindrops come in many sizes
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8155883.stm
Dr Ewan O'Connor, a scientist from the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, who studies clouds - taking measurements to improve weather modelling and forecasting - described this as a very nice way of showing exactly what happens.
"But this is unlikely be what happens all of the time in the UK (for example), as we don't get raindrops of this size that often," he told BBC News.
"When raindrops get to a certain size... you will get this break-up. And this is likely to happen often in the tropics."
But, Dr O'Connor added, "this doesn't explain drizzle, where the droplets are much smaller, but there are many more of them."
July 2009
Award of Distinction for Keith Shine
We are delighted to announce that Professor Keith Shine has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a huge mark of distinction as only a handful of new Fellows are elected each year across the whole of science. It is a fitting reward to Keith who has become a world leading expert on atmospheric radiation and its role in climate change. Amongst other things his expertise gave him a central role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for which he took a share in the Nobel Peace Prize last year. Keith has also been a key figure in the Department of Meteorology
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR21077.asp
Many congratulations to Keith!
15 May 2009
Awards for MMP School
Good news of School of Maths, Meteorology and Physics
Adrian Simmons , of ECMWF, Visiting Professor, University of Reading, has been awarded the Symons Gold Medal by the Royal Meteorological Society, its highest award for outstanding research.
Lennart Bengtsson of ESSC has not only been elected an honorary membership of the Royal Meteorological Society but has also won the Alfred Wegener Medal and awarded honorary membership of the EGU.
Peter Clark, Head of Joint Centres, Met Office, has been elected a visiting Professor of University of Reading.
Many congratulations to all!
Indian Monsoon rains could become less reliable as a result of climate change
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR20267.asp
Work published by the Walker Institute in March shows how the summer monsoon rains over India could become less reliable as a result of Climate Change. Dr Andy Turner who led the work says: 'Our study shows that climate change is likely to bring heavier rainfall bursts over India, increasing the risk of the sort of devastating flooding we saw in Mumbai in July 2005 when nearly 1 metre of rainfall fell and many hundreds of people died
Amanda Maycock wins prize for MSc Project
*Amanda Maycock wins prize for MSc Project*
Amanda Maycock has been awarded the Fugro GEOS Postgraduate Award for Students in Meteorology and Oceanography for her MSc project on the role of the stratosphere in seasonal forecasting.
Amanda said: "I was delighted to learn that I had won the award for my work. The most important conclusion from my thesis was that in some seasonal forecasting models the representation of the circulation in the stratosphere is unrealistic. This is potentially important for improving the skill of seasonal forecasts, given evidence from other studies which have shown that the circulation in the stratosphere can influence that in the troposphere."
After completing her MSc, we're very pleased that Amanda has remained with the Department and is now studying for a PhD investigating the impact of stratospheric water vapour anomalies on climate.
Congratulations to Amanda!
1 April 2009
Congratulations to Lois Steenman-Clark
The Department of Meteorology has great pleasure in announcing that Lois Steenman-Clark has been promoted to Professor.
Lois is Head of Computational Modelling Support within the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). Her team have responsibility for supporting models and the High Performance Computer provision for NCAS. Lois is known to us in Met for her deep knowledge of getting models working on difficult computer environments.
This promotion is a fitting reward for Lois's central role in the UK community. Many congratulations to Lois
March 2009
Dr Chris Westbrook wins prestigious Royal Meteorological Society prize
Many congratulations to Chris Westbrook of Meteorology, who has been awarded the 2009 L.F. Richardson Prize by Royal Meteorological Society. This prize is awarded by the Royal Meteorological Society to the best research by a meteorologist under the age of 35. Chris received the award for his innovative work on properties of ice crystals in the atmosphere. He follows a very distinguished line of meteorologists who have won the prize, many of whom in Department of Meteorology.
Congratulations Chris!
Dr Peter Inness interviewed by BBC Radio after heavy snowfalls in the UK
On the 2nd of February the heavy snow led to a barrage of enquiries to the University Press Office from radio stations looking for an expert to discuss the severe weather. Using the newly installed ISDN radio studio in the Press Office, Dr Pete Inness was able to give interviews to BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales, 2-Ten FM and radio 5 Live. The Radio 4 interview was subsequently re-broadcast on Australian radio networks by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Dr Inness discussed the historical context of the snow and how unusual a snowfall of this magnitude is, particularly in the south-east of England which was the hardest hit area.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2480619.htm
Research Gains top rating in RAE 2008
Our weather, climate and environmental science gains top rating in RAE 2008.
Our reputation as a world leader in climate and weather research is reflected in our high ranking in the Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences category in the recent Research Assesssment Exercise (RAE). The Meteorology Department http://www.reading.ac.uk/meteorology and the Environmental Systems Science Centre http://www.nerc-essc.ac.uk were rated together as the top environmental sciences department^1 in a unit of assessment that mixed geology and meteorology.
Keith Shine, Professor of Physical Meteorology, said: The University of Reading's climate, weather and earth observation research is leading the way in addressing some of the most crucial environmental issues facing society today, such as climate change, air quality and hazardous weather. Our emphasis is on developing a fundamental understanding of the physics of the atmosphere and oceans and this makes our contribution particularly significant at an international level.
See University press release
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR18774.asp
See
http://submissions.rae.ac.uk/results/qualityProfile.aspx?id=17&type=uoa
for full results.
The University ranked fourth in the Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences category (behind Oxford, Cambridge and University College London). However, the three institutions ahead in the ranking are predominantly geology departments.
New NCAS-Climate Director appointed
We are delighted to announce that Professor Rowan Sutton, from the Department of Meteorology, has been appointed as the new Climate Director for NCAS (National Centre for Atmospheric Science).
Rowan has an international reputation in climate prediction, leads a thriving research group at Reading and is the Climate System Theme Leader for the Natural Environment Research Council. Rowan's appointment follows the departure of Professor Julia Slingo to take up the position of Chief Scientist at the Met Office.
The Meteorology Department and the Walker Institute for Climate System Research here at the University have an international reputation in climate and weather research. Continuing to host the climate directorate of NCAS emphasises our strong position and will maintain the productive research collaborations that exist.
Professor Rowan Sutton said: "With its base at the University of Reading, NCAS-Climate benefits hugely from a vibrant research environment and numerous opportunities for collaboration both within the School, and - facilitated by the Walker Institute - throughout the University".
Is Water the New Oil?
It's the world's most precious commodity, yet many of us take it for granted. But that's all about to change Special report by Juliette Jowit: Professor Nigel Arnell, Walker Institute for Climate System Research, balances all the impacts in his modelling at the University of Reading
University of Reading Interviews by BBC Radio Berkshire
Curtis Wood, Researcher; Ross Reynolds, Senior Teaching Fellow; Dan Peake , Phd Student and Kathy Maskell of Walker Institute for Climate System Research , University of Reading, interviewed by BBC Radio Berkshire about climate, weather, research and teaching at the University of Reading.
BBC Radio Berkshire Interview at Reading
Ross Reynolds, Senior Teaching Fellow, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, interviewed by BBC Radio Berkshire on 29th October about the unseasonal snowfall and how unusual it was for October.
Aircraft Emissions are Bad, but How Bad?
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/10/uk-scientist-sa.html
Aircraft emissions are Bad, But How Bad, Professor Keith Shine, University of Reading, says that while there is a great deal of research being conducted on the role of NOx in climate change, nothing is conclusive at this point, i art because the gas seems to both harm and help.
The Science of Survival
FX Magazine Monday 1st September 2008 : Designers from three disciplines have collaborated on The Science of Survival the latest peripatetic exhibition to emerge from the Science museum. The exhibition content was researched in consultation with UK scientists, including Dr Tim Wheeler of the Walker Institute for Climate Change Research at the University of Reading.
Air turbulence tests 'improved'
BBC News channel Monday 6th October 2008:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7654768.stm
A more accurate way of predicting air turbulence for aeroplanes has been developed by researchers
Dr Paul Williams from University of Reading was part of a global team of academics who have developed a new forecasting technique.
Dr Janet Barlow Wins Prestigious Award
Dr Janet Barlow wins prestigious EPSRC Challenging Engineering award. Dr Janet Barlow has won an award worth 1 Million pounds from the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). The Challenging Engineering awards provide talented researchers at an early stage in their careers with funding to develop their research groups. Janet was one of only five researchers who received the awards from 55 applications. She plans to use the award to develop an Advanced Climate Technology Urban Atmospheric Laboratory (ACTUAL). Many congratulations to Janet.
The Decade after Tomorrow
New Scientist Saturday 16th August 2008
How is the Climate is going to change over the next few years? Predicting the climate of the next decade is a grand challenge problem, but we are making real progress, says Professor Rowan Sutton, University of Reading, Walker Institute for Climate System Research
Prof Julia Slingo appointed as Met Office Chief Scientist
22nd July 2008
Many congratulations to Julia on her new appointment
Met Office Chief Scientist is in many ways the meteorological equivalent of the Astronomer Royal, and is a pivotal position in the UK and international weather and climate communities.
This is very good news for us that one of our own has moved into such a senior position. It is also very good news for UK meteorology that someone with such drive and vision has taken this important role.
We wish Julia every success with her future role.
the University press release:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR16296.asp
Climate documentary 'broke the rules'
1 July 2008
The Great Global Warming Swindle attracts complaints
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/newsFeedXML/moreover/-/1hi/sci/tech/7517101.stm
Better to Stay at Home
New Scientist, 28th June page 8.
Want to save your conscience and offset your holiday carbon emissions?
You might want to rethink that trip to the tropics according to Professor Keith Shine's calculations at University of Reading.
Storm Warning Ahead
The Times (A Career Guide to Opportunities) Wednesday 4th June 2008
John Plummer examines how insurance is adapting to the risks of weather incidents:
'Hurricane Katrina was the big wake-up call' says Professor Julia Slingo Director of the NCAS-Climate programme. 'It had a significant impact on the industry and the threat of Atlantic hurricanes remains a big worry.
Malaria threat from Climate Change
Reading Evening Post - Monday 2nd June 2008
Deadly tropical disease malaria could kill people in Britain if the average temperature rises by six degrees. That was the caution issued by The University of Reading's Professor Sir Brian Hoskins in a lecture given at Imperial College London on 22nd May.
CONGRATULATIONS TO PROFESSOR JULIA SLINGO
Professor Julia Slingo, Director of the NCAS-Climate programme has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list on Saturday 14th June, for her services to Environmental and Climate Science.
http://www.ncas.ac.uk/news/stories/queens_birthday_honours_08.html
Reading wins Silver Award at Chelsea Flower Show
.
The University's stand at Chelsea sees researchers from the School of Biological Sciences collaborating with the University's Walker Institute for Climate System Research. The Walker Institute aims to bring together climate related research at the University to improve knowledge of climate change impacts
CLIMATE MODELLERS' INTERVIEWED
Professor Julia Slingo, of Walker Institute for Climate System Research, interviewed for BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Tuesday 6th May and Dr Pier Luigi Vidale of Walker Institute, interviewed for BBC Newsnight on Tuesday 6th May, about next week's Climate Modelling summit being held at ECMWF and the high resolution climate modelling work at the Walker Institute.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7381250.stm
Prof Nigel Arnell, Interviewed by BBC Radio Berkshire
Professor Nigel Arnell, Director of the Walker Institute for Climate System Research, www.walker-institute.ac.uk, was interviewed by BBC Radio Berkshire on 4th April about Walker Institute involvement with Reading Borough Council's climate change activities
http://readingscm.web-labs.co.uk/news/pressreleases/PressArticle.asp?id=SX9452-A7831743
Sign up for a big debate on Environment
Join experts and community leaders as they debate the issues affecting our environment and ideas for a greener future.
The Great Environment Briefing, which will be chaired by Professor Sir Brian Hoskins of University of Reading, is being organised by IET Berkshire Network and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. The debate takes place on Wendesday April 9th at the Town Hall, Blagrave Street, Reading. Booking required at regsec@thamesweyregion.freeserve.co.uk or call 01297 442218
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins appointed to the New Committee on Climate Change
University of Reading Press Release 3rd March 2008: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have announced that University of Reading Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, will be one of the experts to sit on the new Climate Change Committee, established as part of the Government's Climate Change Bill
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR12707.asp
Dr Andrew Charlton Perez wins prestigious Royal Meteorological Society Prize
Dr Andrew Charlton Perez has been awarded the prestigious Richardson Prize for 2007 by the Royal Meteorological Society. This prize recognises outstanding research achievement in atmospheric science by a young researcher. Andrew has been awarded this prize for his work on the role of the stratosphere in influencing weather.
NERC goes to work on 1 billion pound cimate change partnership
Research council aims to integrate science and policy in flagship programme. Rowan Sutton NCAS, is currently working with academics, government departments and industry to develop an action plan for NERC on exactly which areas of climate change research it should be concentrating its efforts.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=400537
Agribusiness Crop updates draws a crowd
Dr Tim Wheeler from Walker Institute for Climate System Research speaks at 2008 Agricrop Forum about the impact of climate change on wheat production.
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/wa/content/2006/s2161964.htm
The changing climate of tourism
International Journal of Tourism 1st February 2008: The tourism industry is a main contributor to and also a victim of climate change. Dr Jane Strachan tells us how and why travel patterns are likely to change in the coming years.
Antarctic ice riddle keeps sea-level secrets
Irish Times (Dublin) 1st February 2008:
Reuters Business Report Wire 31 January 2008:
TROLL STATION , Antarctica. A deep freeze holding 90 percent of the world's ice, Antarctica is one of the biggest puzzles in debate on global warming with risks that any thaw could raise sea levels faster than U.N. projections.
Reading MP visits Walker Institute
28th January - Reading Evening Post
Reading East MP Rob Wilson visited the Walker Institute for Climate System Research at University of Reading, Department of Meteorolgy.
Climate science gets boost of new academic supercomputer
17 January 2008:
University of Reading Press Release: Climate science gets boost of new academic supercomputer. Scientists from the Walker Institute at the University of Reading will be studying the problem of climate change in more details than ever before using the new UK academic supercomputer (HECToR) which was launched on Monday 14th January in Edinburgh by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling.
http://www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR11232.asp
http://www.rapidonline.com/latestnews.aspx?id=18425094&tier1=Educational+Products&titl
Why wood stoves can be carbon-neutral
29 December 2007:
The Independent: Letters to the Editor. Why wood stoves can be carbon-neutral - for some of us. Dr Paul Williams, Department of Meteorology, University of Reading.
The Times: Global Warming
14 December 2007:
The Times: Global Warming. This decade breaks records in table of world's hottest years. Paul Williams a climate modeller at the University of Reading said "This is further evidence that the pace of global warming is accelerating at an alarming rate".
Professor Sir Brian Hoskins named today as the first Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change
10 December 2007:
Imperial College London: Professor Sir Brian Hoskins FRS, A renowned meteorologist and climate scientist has been named today as the first Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College. www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandevents
Cherrycreeknews.com, Denver: World leading climate expert to direct Imperial College London\u2019s new climate change Institute. www.thecherrycreeknews.com
Science of Regional Climate Change, Variability and Impacts
28 November 2007 UK-India Links: British Council organise UKIRI climate change event.
Science of Regional Climate Change, Variability and Impacts research programme being implemented by University of Reading and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune.
