Michael Safi and Michael Slezak report in The Guardian (4.2.16) that up to 350 positions at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation will be made redundant, with its climate research divisions to bear the brunt of the job losses.
‘CSIRO’s oceans and atmosphere flagship is a world leader on many aspects of climate science. Its staff include scientists such as Pep Cannedel, who leads the global carbon project, a major international project that tracks the carbon cycle, identifying out where carbon is produced and where it goes.
‘It also includes scientists such as Wenju Cai, who is among the world’s leading experts on the interaction between oceans and the atmosphere. His work has uncovered, among other things, the nature of El Niño, a climate phenomenon that redistributes rainfall around the globe.
‘The head of the CSIRO staff association, Sam Popovski, said he was “bewildered” by job losses “in these fundamental landmark areas of science that CSIRO’s had a world-leading reputation in”.’