People power enlisted in climate change research
19 March 2011
Citizen scientists are once again needed to gather information about the natural environment for the latest in a series of national surveys enlisting ordinary people to conduct experiments, this time on the effects of climate change.
The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) Climate Survey is helping scientists at the Met Office and the Royal Meteorological Society to draw conclusions about the effect of human activities on the climate. They're asking people to look at the sky and record aeroplane con trails, as well as noting down wind direction and speed, and details of the weather.
The information collected will test the accuracy of computer models as well as shedding light on whether plane con trails contribute to global warming, how buildings affect the weather around us, and how sensitive we are to climate.
''We're asking people to go outside and observe and measure the weather,' said Dr Geoff Jenkins of the Royal Meteorological Society. 'What they see and record will be useful in checking the models we use for forecasting weather and predicting climate.'
Other surveys in the OPAL project, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, are looking at soil, biodiversity, water quality and air pollution, with a further survey on insects starting later this year. Over 12,000 people have taken part since the project began in 2008, and results are still being collected. The final conclusions drawn from all five surveys will be published in 2012.