News flash- delay in UK Climate Projections

This just arrived in MCFly's inbox-

"Defra, Met Office Hadley Centre and UK Climate Impacts Programme have taken a decision to delay the launch of the UK 21st Century Climate Change Projections (2008) project (UKCIP08). This decision has been taken based on information provided by the Met Office Hadley Centre which needs more time to consolidate the climate projections. The Met Office is using ground-breaking science to produce the new climate projections – combining information from the widest possible range of global climate models. This complex process requires further analysis which will unfortunately take more time than initially expected. The projections are now likely to be published in Spring 2009. Further information will be available as soon as possible."

This is really, really interesting. The UK Climate Impacts Programme was set up in April 1997 (www.ukcip.org.uk). Its work has been used by local authorities, insurers etc who want/need to know what sorts of weather patterns will be happening in 2020, 2050 and 2080 and their implications for "construction, working practices, demand for goods and services, biodiversity, service delivery, health" among others.

David Attenborough relied on these projections heavily in his BBC documentaries last year.

The last projections were in 2002, and the 2008 ones have been very eagerly awaited. The more pessimistic commentators may be inclined to point to the recent conference at Exeter as the reason for the delay- that conference heard lots of evidence that the impacts are coming faster than harder than thought. (this I overheard at a "Climate Clinic" event at Labour Party conference- the link below is merely about the conference itself
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/newsclimatechange.shtml

We live in interesting times