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Job cuts threaten NIWA climate modellers

NIWA news

Crown-owned National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is considering job cuts that could impact a key team of climate modellers, according to state media.

The specialised ‘Earth Systems Modelling’ team is responsible for enhancing understanding of New Zealand’s climate future, providing insights into possible changing food production conditions and ocean behaviours as global temperatures allegedly rise.

Due to the unique nature of New Zealand’s climate, global climate models developed in the Northern Hemisphere struggle to account for local variables such as the Southern Ocean, regional ozone, and cloud patterns, said the report in state broadcaster RNZ.

NIWA’s team is said to bridge this gap by refining global models for the Southern Hemisphere and improving climate projections specifically for New Zealand.

External researchers are concerned over the proposed cuts, saying the team’s specialised skills and their potential to be snapped up by international institutions, leading to a significant loss of expertise for New Zealand.

The team has been heavily funded by the climate alarmist organisation Deep South National Science Challenge, which has supported the development of a New Zealand-specific Earth System Model. However, funding for the 10-year, $680 million Science Challenges is set to expire soon, and the government has yet to introduce a new science funding framework.

The proposal is reportedly part of a broader cost-cutting initiative at NIWA, which may also include layoffs of Auckland air quality and social scientists working on climate change adaptation. In a statement, NIWA declined to comment further while the consultation process was ongoing. The PSA union revealed that up to 90 jobs, including 30 currently vacant positions, could be affected.

Despite these concerns, NIWA maintains that its ‘core work’ will not be impacted by the cuts.

Image credit: Joachim Süß

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Ah yes, those intrepid modellers who plug fake data into MS Excel and cry wolf at every possible opportunity.

    “No ozone layer by 2000! 😱”

    “London underwater by 2010! 😱”

    “COVID will kill at least a quarter of the earth’s population! 😱”

    Just shut up and go away already

  2. When I was a kid, I remember them saying that the Northern hemisphere would be covered by an ice sheet in a mini-ice age by the year 2000 and we’d all freeze to death. Then in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s we were going to have global warming so all the ice in Antarctica would melt, sea levels would rise 200ft (60m) and anybody in coastal regions would drown. Now they call it climate change because they really do not know if it will get warmer or colder and they want to use it for their fear agenda either way.

    I do not care about CO2 because levels were higher in the past (thousands of years) and the climate was similar to today: The sun is the biggest driver of climate.

    “Trust the science”: Science should not be trusted – that is an oxymoron. Now that “we the people” are all over this there will be no trust. “We the people” see what is going on and see the BS coming from authority for what it is: Propaganda with the intent to put people in 15-minute cities and surrender their freedom of movement to the global techno-fascism with digital passports containing social credit and vaccine certificates.

  3. NIWA has purchased four Chevrolet Silverado 4×4 HD LTZ Premium utes, which were seen by the Herald at a North Shore car yard this weekend. The vehicles’ registration appears to show the cars are a 2024 model.
    NIWA would not say how much the vehicles cost, citing commercial sensitivity. However, that particular model currently retails at about $172,000, bringing the total cost of the utes to $688,000.
    NIWA have 700 staff in 13 offices throughout New Zealand. I would very much like to see the payroll figures for this organisation. Ninety jobs will be cut in the climate modelling department. Modellers try to tell the future with about as much luck as fortune tellers or astrologers.
    NIWA does the same work as the sixteen regional councils and the meteorological office. Somehow associated with NIWA is yet another organisation named The Deep South Challenge. What does it do?
    The sixteen regional councils have a separate rating system, NIWA has its associated charges for permits, prohibitions and government funding, but where does The Deep South Challenge get its money from? Government needs to get rid of the lot and with the saved revenue build two state of the art hospitals.

    • Thank you for your street reporting RE the Chevrolet Silverados.
      They don’t even try to hide what hypocrites they are.

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