§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will commission an urgent study of the effects on the climate of northern Europe of widespread destruction of the Amazon rain forest, particularly in relation to westerly air currents, originating in the area of the Andes.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWork on the potential impact of Amazon rain forest destruction on global and regional370W climate change is already in hand as part of the Meteorological Office's research programme. An international review of all aspects of the science of climate change, of which rain forest destruction is only one, is currently being carried out by the inter-governmental panel on climate change, set up under UNEP/WMO auspices in November 1988. The science review is led by the director general of the Meteorological Office, Dr. John Houghton, with funding from the Departments of Environment and Energy and is expected to report in mid-1990.