NIWA job cuts could destroy team of New Zealand’s top climate modellers

Job cuts at Crown-owned science firm NIWA (National Institute for Atmospheric and Water Research) could eliminate a team of New Zealand’s top climate modellers, RNZ understands.

The Earth Systems Modeling team is a highly specialized unit helping to improve understanding of New Zealand’s future climate, for example how food growing conditions could change and how oceans around the country could behave as climate changes. Greenhouse gases warm the planet.

Because the world’s best climate models (intricate equations that simulate the atmosphere, land and seas) are developed in the northern hemisphere, they do not scale well with factors that influence New Zealand, such as the Southern Ocean, ozone and local clouds.

The small team improved both global models used by the international community for the southern hemisphere and climate change projections for New Zealand, and is still working to fill important gaps in understanding.

Sources outside the company confirmed they were aware of the proposal, but NIWA said it would not comment while the consultation was taking place.

An external researcher who was informed of the proposal said the team’s skills “were like hen’s teeth” and that the researchers would be hired abroad, with the country losing valuable experience.

The Deep South National Science Challenge website shows that Deep South extensively funded the team’s work to create a model of New Zealand’s Earth system.

But the $680 million, 10-year Science Challenges funding expires soon, and the government has not announced a replacement model for science funding.

RNZ understands the proposal is part of a cost-cutting effort at NIWA that could also result in the loss of Auckland air quality scientists, as well as several social scientists helping communities adapt to climate change.

When asked about these plans and whether New Zealand would retain critical climate modeling skills, NIWA emailed a statement: “We will have no further comment while the consultation and review process is underway.”

According to the PSA, the company’s 700 employees face the loss of 90 jobs, of which 30 are currently vacant.

NIWA has said the cuts would have no impact on its core work, according to the union.