Climate change impact workshop

Press, 27 July 1989, Page 6

Climate change impact workshop

By

NIGEL MALTHUS

Experts in a wide range of disciplines will gather in Christchurch today for a two-day workshop on possible effects to New Zealand from the greenhouse effect and climate change. Those taking part make up the Impacts Working Group of the New Zealand Climate Change Committee, set up under the Ministry for the Environment. About 30 people were involved, experts in areas from “forestry and freshwater biology, all the way through to housing,” said the chairman, Mr Paul Mosley, the manager of the water resources survey for the D.S.I.R.’s Division of Water Sciences. Mr Mosley said some members of the group had been working on probable primary effects

of climate change, affecting the environment and ecosystems. The workshop would allow them to report their findings to those who would work on secondary effects, on industry, agriculture, social services and the economy in general. Examples were changes to the snowline, which would have secondary effects on ski-ing and tourism, and changes to the distribution of crops such as kiwifruit, which would have secondary inpact on the processing and packing industries and therefore on population distribution and employment. Mr Mosley emphasised that they were working on “scenarios” rather than “predictions.” They were working to identify what could happen if certain changes took place, he said.