Chinese, British scientists call for increased cooperation to combat climate change

KUNMING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Over 130 scientists from China and the United Kingdom gathered in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, to share their latest research and scientific advances on climate science and services.

The annual workshop, held Wednesday through Friday under the Climate Science for Service Partnership China (CSSP China) initiative, underscored the urgent need for strengthened China-UK collaboration to address climate change.

Topics discussed during the workshop ranged from climate change detection, attribution and the development of climate prediction models to the application of machine learning in climate science. Scientists also explored ways to translate research into practical climate services for communities.

Rowan Sutton, director of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Science and Services, said at the opening remark that with more countries facing extreme climate events, there is an urgent need to enhance international collaboration and build services to enhance society's resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Chao Qingchen, director of the National Climate Center at the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two countries. "Through this partnership, we aim to improve our understanding of climate and better utilize climate information to address pressing societal needs, including human health, food security, water resources and energy," she said.

Anthony Preston, consul general at the British Consulate-General in Chongqing, called the CSSP China project "one of the best examples" of long-standing UK-China scientific collaboration. "Both the UK and China are global leaders when it comes to harnessing science and innovation to address climate change," he noted.

Zhou Tianjun, vice director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, highlighted the important role the collaboration has played in nurturing the next generation of young scientific talent.

The CSSP China initiative, launched in 2014 by the UK Met Office, the CMA, and the IAP, aims at building services to support climate-resilient economic development and social welfare.

Over the past decade, more than 20 British and Chinese research organizations and over 200 research scientists have been involved in CSSP China. The project has made significant strides in climate change detection, attribution and projection, climate extremes, tropical cyclone forecasting, seasonal rainfall predictions, climate modeling, machine learning for climate sciences, and the development of climate-resilient food systems.

Scientific papers from the project have been cited in over 150 global policy documents. More than 100 early career scientists have been trained.

The project has so far created a range of climate service prototypes, such as seasonal rainfall forecasts for the Yangtze River Basin, the maize yield in northeastern China, and the tea industry in Yunnan Province.

"In the future, we will continue to work together to make greater social benefits through the development of climate services applications," Zhou added.