Climate-Change Program Gets New Funds and Home
By Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times, September 25, 2008
A program that helps poor countries reduce their vulnerability to floods, drought and other climate-related hazards will move to the University of Colorado, Boulder, under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, foundation and university officials said Wednesday.
The announcement was made weeks after the loss of government support for the program, the Center for Capacity Building. It will move from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, which eliminated its $500,000 annual budget last month, citing budget cuts and shifting priorities, to the university under a $1 million grant spread over two years, said Judith Rodin, the president of the Rockefeller Foundation. Ms. Rodin said more support was likely. The name will change to the Consortium for Capacity Building because one goal will be to build relationships with foreign institutions.
The Center for Capacity Building was created at the national climate research facility in 2004. It built on decades of work in developing countries by its director, Michael H. Glantz, a political scientist who has focused on the societal impacts of natural climate extremes and changes driven by accumulating greenhouse gases. Dr. Glantz said he was thrilled that the center would survive. With fast-growing populations in poor regions regularly plagued by harsh weather, it is vital to increase capacity to withstand today’s risks and those amplified by global warming, he said.
He said countries must not only assess the need for concrete projects like building seawalls, but also make sure they can respond to climate-related threats.
“If we can’t get ready for today’s extremes, year to year, decade to decade, we surely won’t be ready for what’s to come in the decades ahead,” he said.
Roger A. Pielke Jr., a political scientist at the University of Colorado who criticized the atmospheric center and the National Science Foundation, which finances it, for cutting the program, said he looked forward to working with Dr. Glantz.
“This is how science will increasing be done — seamlessly integrating research, education and meaningful linkages with real-world decision makers,” he said.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment