Economist and philanthropist Gareth
Morgan has donated $250,000 to Victoria University's Antarctic
Research Centre (ARC).
The grant will fund initiatives including a Research Fellowship
on Ice Sheets and Sea Level to improve understanding of how ice
sheets are likely to contribute to rising sea levels and the
potential effect this could have in the southwest Pacific region.
Dr Morgan said while studying the climate change debate it was
clear that good scientific research was critical to ongoing
understanding of the global warming issue and its risks.
The grant from his family's charitable foundation will advance
the contribution from the ARC research projects, which focus on
understanding Antarctica's climate history and processes, and their
influence on the global climate system
.
"Given the estimates of anthropogenic contributions to climate
change remain subject to some uncertainty, and given that policy
responses cannot wait until we have absolute certainty, it is
imperative that the science continues to narrow it down to minimise
the chances of inappropriate and costly policy responses, Dr Morgan
said.
NZPA