date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 12:16:50 +0100
from: "Stephanie Ferguson" <stephanie.ferguson@ukcip.org.uk>
subject: UKCIP news update
to: "Stephanie Ferguson" <stephanie.ferguson@ukcip.org.uk>

   Dear Colleagues



   1.  UKCIP risk training workshops - last chance to register!

   2.  UKCIP up and running with climateprediction.net
   3.  Paull Holme Strays Flood Defence Scheme - officially open
   4.  Rail Safety & Standards Board publish new report: Safety Implications
        of Weather, Climate and Climate Change
   5.  Nature's Calendar - autumn 2002 data

   6.  Managing Risk and Liability in a Changing Climate
   7.  Other conferences
   8.  Yorkshire and Humber Region to appoint Regional Climate
        Change Co-ordinator

   9.  CEH-Wallingford to appoint Catchment Systems Modeller (including
        climate change)
   10.  UKCIP staff changes
   1.  UKCIP risk training workshops - last chance to register!

   There are still some places left on the UKCIP risk training workshops in
   November and December (details below).  UKCIP and the Environment Agency's
   Environmental Policy Risk and Forecasting team are running the free training
   workshops to demonstrate the application of the UKCIP risk framework (see
   [1]www.ukcip.org.uk/risk_uncert/risk_uncert.html) and train attendees in its
   use.  Places are limited, so email UKCIP now to avoid disappointment!

   Built environment, 13 November 2003
   How can a 1960s office building be modified to provide a comfortable
   internal environment over the next 20 years, while minimising energy use?
   Town and Country Planning Association, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London
   Water resources, 19 November 2003
   How should Silver Birches plc (a tree-growing business) adjust its long-term
   business strategy to better manage its climate change and water supply risks
   over the next 20 years?
   Severn Trent Water, 2297 Coventry Road, Birmingham
   Biodiversity, 27 November 2003
   How should a National Nature Reserve Management Plan be revised to take
   account of climate change?
   Scottish Executive, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ.
   Local authority plans, 4 December 2003
   The Local Plan for Council A is due for review and one of those responsible
   wants to ensure that when it's revised, it is adapted to take account of
   climate change impacts.  How should this be done? (This workshop will make
   use of an existing local plan in an area that includes flood risks.)
   Sustainability North West, Giant's Basin, Potato Wharf, Manchester M15 4AY



   2.  UKCIP up and running with climateprediction.net
   As we reported in the last e-news, climateprediction.net was launched in
   September to allow a state-of-the-art climate prediction model to be run as
   a background process on home, school and work computers, generating the
   world's largest climate prediction experiment. There are currently almost
   37,000 registered users (over 11,000 in the UK) and we're pleased to report
   that all UKCIP computers are now participating and we've registered as
   group.
   When the programme is running on your computer, you can monitor progress and
   there's a dinky visualisation of 'your' climate model to view. Once
   registered, you can also pander to your competitive instinct and view your
   personal and group ranking (UKCIP is 34th).
   3.  Paull Holme Strays Flood Defence Scheme - officially open
   Elliot Morley MP officially opened the Environment Agency's innovative Paull
   Holme Strays Flood Defence Scheme on 9 October.  The project uses managed
   realignment to strengthen the flood protection while creating 80 hectares of
   new inter-tidal habitat, therefore also meeting the requirements of the
   European Habitats Directive. Work on the project began in September 2001 and
   two years later the existing defences were breached in two places to allow
   the sea in. Thus the process of returning the land to its original habitat
   (mudflat and saltmarsh) began. The intention is to allow the site to develop
   naturally.

   Visit the Environment Agency website for more information.

   4.  Rail Safety & Standards Board publish new report: Safety Implications of Weather,
   Climate and Climate Change
   A new report commissioned by the Rail Safety and Standards Board from AEA
   Technology is now available on the RSSB website.  The report makes use of
   the UKCIP climate change scenarios, to develop risk scenarios for the
   railway system.  It outlines the relationship between weather and railway
   safety, for instance, the number of signals passed at danger (SPADS) due to
   weather events.  It also identifies future research needs and proposes
   adaptation actions for the industry to address climate change risks.
   5.  Nature's Calendar - autumn 2002 data
   The latest issue of Nature's Calendar News, published by the Woodland Trust,
   the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the UK Phenology Network, gives an
   analysis of events of autumn 2002.  Thousands of volunteer recorders have
   monitored events such as bird migrations, leaf fall and fruit ripening, and
   their observations show that almost all these events occurred earlier in
   2002 than in 2001. This seems to fly in the face of the usual message that
   autumn is getting later, but the picture is complex and factors such as low
   rainfall in September 2002 may play a part.  It will be interesting to see
   how the data for 2003 compares!
   For more information, visit the UK Phenology Network website.
   6.  Managing Risk and Liability in a Changing Climate
   Climate Change Management/Newzeye
   3 December 2003, Royal Geographical Society, London, UK

   UKCIP Director, Chris West will be addressing this conference, along with
   speakers from the Carbon Trust, the Greater London Assembly and academics
   from the Oxford University, Middlesex University and University College
   London. Topics to be covered include:  flood management, implications for
   planning and regeneration, climate change and the construction industry,
   climatic monitoring and prediction, climate change - obligations and
   liabilities and transport trends and policies.
   For further details visit [2]www.climatecm.com/conferences or contact Selena
   Hannagan, tel + 44 (0)20 8969 1008 or email [3]selenahannagan@newzeye.com.
   7.  Other conferences

   Delivering climate technology - programmes, policies and politics
   Royal Institute of International Affairs/Carbon Trust
   4-5 November 2003, Chatham House, London, UK
   Sessions include: technology strategies for a carbon-constrained world,
   de-carbonising utilities, fossil fuel transitions, delivering climate
   technology - the next phase.
   For full details visit the conference website.
   Climate Change: What needs to be done in North and South?
   17-20 November 2003, Wilton Park, West Sussex, UK
   What next for the Kyoto process? Can the US and major greenhouse gas
   emitters among transition and developing nations be drawn in? What role for
   alternative energy? How can we help entire societies soften the impacts
   through adaptation strategies?
   For more information, visit the Wilton Park website.

   8.  Yorkshire and Humber Region to appoint Regional Climate Change
   Co-ordinator
   The Government Office for Yorkshire and Humber region will shortly be
   advertising for a part-time Regional Climate Change Co-ordinator to carry
   forward the region's climate change agenda.
   The position is a two-year fixed term, part-time post (18.5 hours per week).
   The salary band for the position is Grade 7 (35-47k  per annum, pro rata)
   and the position is based in the Government Office for Yorkshire & Humber in
   central Leeds.
   For further details on this position or to discuss the post, please contact
   Les Saunders -  phone 0113 283 5372 or email
   [4]LJSAUNDERS.GOYH@go-regions.gsi.gov.uk

   9.  CEH-Wallingford to appoint Catchment Systems Modeller (including climate change)
   The Risk Analysis and Trends Section within the Hydrological Risks &
   Resources Division at CEH-Wallingford are looking for a Catchment Systems
   Modeller to undertake research covering a number of different aspects of
   hydrological modelling, including climate change.  Applicants should have a
   good honours degree and a relevant post-graduate qualification or at least
   three years' experience in research. Further details available from the
   Personnel Section, CEH Wallingford, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford,
   Wallingford Oxon OX10 8BB.  Tel 01491 838800, email [5]wlreception@ceh.ac.uk,
   quoting reference 10/03.  Closing date - Friday 31st October 2003.
   10.  UKCIP staff changes
   Later this month we say goodbye to Sally Jeffery, who has been UKCIP's
   Administrator since May 2002. Sally has been at the heart of creating the
   efficient structures that keep the UKCIP office running smoothly. Everyone
   at UKCIP would like to say a big 'thank you' for her contribution to our
   progress and to wish her all the best for the future.
   Best wishes
   Chris West
   Director, UKCIP

   Based at the University of Oxford and funded by DEFRA, UKCIP helps organisations assess how
   they will be affected by climate change, so they can prepare for its impacts.
     ______________________________________________________________________________________



   Stephanie Ferguson
   Administrative Assistant



   UK Climate Impacts Programme
   Union House, 12-16 St Michael's Street, Oxford OX1 2DU



   Tel: 01865 431254  Fax: 01865 432077
   email: [6]stephanie.ferguson@ukcip.org.uk   [7]www.ukcip.org.uk

