Eureka! CSIRO wins for climate change research

Dr John Church of CSIRO has been awarded the 2007 University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Scientific Research.

Dr Church developed a way to combine historical data from tide-gauge readings with modern data from satellite altimeters which measure the height of ocean surfaces over most of the global ocean.

This led to the discovery that sea level rise accelerated during the 20th century.

Dr Church's research has demonstrated that current models of climate change underestimate the rate at which sea levels may rise. He was also the first person to recognise that violent volcanic eruptions can have significant impact on sea level as a result of cooling effects of volcanic aerosols in the upper atmosphere.

"Sea level rise is an important issue to society and is central to the debate about global warming and its impacts," Dr Church said.

Dr Church's work on global and regional sea level assessment utilising the satellite-altimeter data is globally recognised for its impact and is contributing to international projects on satellite data calibration.

Dr Church is an oceanographer with CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and is currently chair of the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Programme. He was co-convening lead author for the chapter on Changes in Sea Level in the IPCC Third Assessment Report. His previous awards include the 2006 Roger Revelle Medal, awarded by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and a 2006 CSIRO medal for research achievement.