HC Deb 24 October 1989 vol 158 cc409-10W
Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, if he will make a statement on the plan for and purpose of the world ocean circulation experiment based at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences at Deacon laboratory in Wormley, Surrey.

Mr. Jackson

I have been asked to reply.

The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) is an international experiment which will study the role of ocean circulation in determing climate change. The United Kingdom has played a major role in the planning of WOCE and will contribute both to the data collection and the development of models of ocean circulation. WOCE will take place mainly between 1990 and 1996 and in the United Kingdom will involve the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), higher education institutions, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the Meteorological Office.