HC Deb 01 November 1990 vol 178 cc648-9W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies have been undertaken or commissioned by his Department since 1985 into the effects of potential patterns of global climate change on United Kingdom agriculture and fisheries.

Mr. Curry

The Department will be spending £121 million on R and D in 1990–91. Much of this research is relevant to the response of agriculture to a changing climate. In 1991–92 my Department expects to spend £1.3 million on agriculture and fisheries projects directly relevant to climate change. Since 1985 relevant R and D topics have included:

  • The impact of climate change on field drainage.
  • Methane production by ruminants and its control.
  • The development of grasses likely to tolerate climate change.
  • Development of the arable crop model to assess the likely impact of climate change.
  • The likely impact of climate change on aphid pest incidence.
  • The effects of CO2 and aerial gaseous composition on growth and development of horticultural and other crops.
  • Climate sensitivities of United Kingdom soils with respect 649 to agricultural production.
  • The effects of future climatic change on agricultural potential in the United Kindom.
  • Maintenance and improvement of the quality, reliability and availability of sea level data obtained from the national tide gauge network.
  • Assemblage, analysis and maintenance of a bank of well documented and verified observations from the principal tide gauges round Great Britain.
  • Geocentric fixing of tide gauge bench marks and thereby removing the inaccuracies due to land movement.
  • Devise methods of estimating the effects of climatic variation on waves around the United Kingdom.
  • Estimation of extreme sea levels due to tides, surges and waves.
  • The economic impact of sea level rise on the South Coast.
  • United Kingdom sea level trends in relation to climatic change.
  • The economic impact of sea level rise.
  • Climate change in relation to biological oceanography.
  • Study of CO2 partial pressure in the ocean surface leading to a fuller understanding of marine controls on atmospheric CO2.
  • Continuous plankton recorder for measurement of phytoplankton variations including responses to climate change.
  • Undulating oceanographic recorder for vertical assessment of phytoplankton variations including responses to climate change.
  • Variation of fish stock recruitment in response to planetary scale climatic changes.

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