Australia guts government climate research

Staff at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) received an unpleasant e-mail when they came to work Thursday morning, one that outlined some specifics of long-awaited restructuring plans. The gist of the message? You've done such a good job, we have to let you go.

CSIRO’s CEO Larry Marshall's lengthy message stated, “Our climate models are among the best in the world and our measurements honed those models to prove global climate change. That question has been answered, and the new question is what do we do about it, and how can we find solutions for the climate we will be living with?”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that about 110 of the 135 people in CSIRO’s Oceans and Atmosphere division will be cut, and there will be a similar reduction in the Land and Water division. Smaller cuts are also planned for the Manufacturing and Data61 digital technology divisions. The remaining positions in Oceans and Atmosphere will be shifted away from climate science and toward mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.