New Zealand a climate laboratory for the world

New Zealand a climate laboratory for the world

New Zealand is the “world’s natural laboratory” with research providing the means to shape climate change policy, according to a Victoria University expert.

Victoria Professor Lionel Carter says that New Zealand’s position in the world gives it impressive opportunities for climate research.

“For a country this size, a lot happens around it. The landmass lies across two active tectonic plates which accounts for our frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The country also, extends across two major ocean boundaries that separate waters of polar and equatorial origin.

“The world’s largest ocean current system—the Antarctic Circumpolar Current—and the largest deep ocean current also pass around New Zealand. Such a range of natural forces in one place is highly unusual.”

The Professor of Marine Geology will outline how research into this “natural laboratory” is being applied to real world problems during his inaugural professorial lecture on Tuesday 14 September, titled Between the Pole and Equator—the New Zealand ocean in a changing world.

He says one of the most revealing areas of research is analysing the lake and ocean sediments of New Zealand that contain a spectacular record of past environmental change.

“New Zealand’s earthquakes and volcanoes destabilise the landscape and together with a vigorous climate, result in large volumes of sediment going into the ocean—about one percent of the world’s total output, which is a lot for a small country. The sediment helps preserve minute fossil plankton whose shells record the ocean conditions at the time of their growth.

“So just offshore we have an archive of environmental change which we can use to test computer models of climate change, answering questions like, ‘If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapsed as the models suggest, can we see a response recorded in the seabed around New Zealand?’.”

Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh says Professor Carter has an outstanding reputation in marine geology and environmental change research.

“Professor Carter’s research is impressive for its contribution to the science about climate change. Climate change research is a core strength of Victoria University and an issue we approach from many angles with world-class researchers in science, architecture and design, and government policy.”

“Professor Carter is also a leading adviser on telecommunications fibre-optic cable network beneath the world’s seas. He is a dedicated and experienced scientist.”

Professor Walsh says Victoria’s Inaugural Lecture series is an opportunity for professors to provide family, friends, colleagues and the wider community with an insight into their specialist area of study.

“It is also an opportunity for the University to celebrate and acknowledge our valued professors.”

ENDS