§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to the statement made on 13 March,Official Report, column 168, to which general circulation models on climate the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Enfield, North (Mr. Eggar) was referring, pertaining to Amazonia, which do not allow us to predict regional change with certainty; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 10 April 1989]: The statement made by my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield, North (Mr. Eggar) is true of all the general circulation models currently in use in the major climate change research centres of the world, including the Meteorological Office and various institutions in the United States. Developing the ability to make regional climate change prediction within reasonable limits of confidence is a principal research objective of general circulation modelling. The current status of research on this, and the possibilities for progress, are among the topics being reviewed by working group I of the UNEP/WMO intergovernmental panel on climate change, chaired by Dr. John Houghton of the Meteorological Office.