Australia ‘needs a point of focus for environmental prediction’

Discussion paper says framework for predictive research is taking shape, but scientists have reservations

Australia needs a single hub to coordinate work on predicting environmental change, starting with land-based changes, the federal government has been told.

A 10-year investment proposal to create an Australia-wide framework for environmental predictions, known as the National Environmental Prediction System, would include a hub to develop partnerships, an active programme of pilot projects to coordinate research, and work on a “modelling infrastructure” to boost the integration of different research data. But the Australian Academy of Science says that the NEPS may not reach its goals in the form currently proposed.