EC-Earth Meeting at UCD

Ray McGrath (Met Éireann), Peter Lynch (UCD), Minister John Gormley, President Hugh Brady, Wilco Hazeleger (KNMI), Tom Sheridan (Met Éireann) and J-C Desplat (ICHEC) at the opening of the EC-Earth Meeting

  
European climate-prediction experts met at UCD on 3 and 4 December, to discuss the development of a computer system to examine future weather patterns. The meeting was opened by the Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, who was introduced by the President, Dr Hugh Brady.

The meeting was part of the EC-Earth Programme, an international collaborative project aiming to simulate and predict the entire global climate system. UCD is a partner in EC-Earth. The group plans to develop a computer model that will improve predictions of global climate for the rest of this century.

The EC-Earth System will be based on the IFS system of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the world-leading weather prediction model. The goal is to develop the world-leading climate prediction model. In addition to the earth's atmosphere, the computer model will incorporate factors relating to the ocean, land and ice. Modules for marine and terrestrial biogeochemical cycles will also be included.

Minister Gormley and Prof Lynch discussing the EC-Earth Programme

  

Minister John Gormley said projects such as EC-Earth are "absolutely essential if we are to predict the global climate conditions with accuracy. ... Climate change threatens our very existence and we must tackle it now" the Minister said. "We also want to expand the links to international research to ensure that Ireland has an advanced capability for predicting future climate conditions", he concluded.

The local organizer for the meeting was Dr Rodrigo Caballero of the UCD Centre for Meteorology and Climate. The Irish involvement in the EC-Earth Programme is led by Prof Peter Lynch of UCD, Ray McGrath, Head of Research at Met Éireann and J.-C. Desplat of ICHEC.