The climate research lab at the University of Prince Edward Island is offering a new and valuable tool to researchers around the world.
Adam Fenech is the director of the climate research lab. He says the climate is going to get warmer and wetter over the next 100 years and he isn’t just guessing. His information is based on the world’s most advanced science.
“It’s information on changes in temperature, changes in precipitation, changes in wind, going over the next 100 years,” says Fenech.
The lab has downloaded raw data from 40 global climate models and translated, analyzed, verified and converted into a usable dataset for researchers.
The raw data comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the leading scientific authority on the subject.
However, the data appears in a format that is difficult to use. Fenech decided to hire a computer programmer and nine months later, they have a user-friendly software program that can provide maps and future projections for climate researchers globally.
“The benefit that UPEI has is that we’re the first to have it in a form that we can provide maps of the future changes,” says Fenech.
Groups from around the world, in places such as China and Egypt, have contacted the research lab for the dataset, as well as groups closer to home.
“We’ve had groups locally, local farmers, local crop and soil association, fisheries association, watershed groups who are interested,” says Fenech.
Robert Gilmour is the vice-president of research for the university. He says the climate research lab was established when they hired Dr. Fenech a year and a half ago.
“Adam was part of Al Gore’s team when they won the Nobel Peace Prize,” says Gilmour. “He’s well known in his area, very well connected, he has contacts all over the globe.”
UPEI will start offering classes for students in climate change in the fall. They will focus on a master’s degree with intensive programs in the summer and online work for the rest of the year.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Martin Poirier
