More than 30 scientists who met in Queenstown this week to discuss a new global network to improve the quality of climate data spent yesterday at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) Lauder station.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean welcomed them to the station and they told her Lauder played a pivotal role in data-gathering.
"Lauder has a well-earned reputation and plays such a big role in the atmospheric scientific community, " German scientist Holger Voemel said.
"This is a prime spot for our scientific community - it's the most important spot in the southern hemisphere."
The head of the climate analysis section of the United States National Centre for Atmospheric Research, Kevin Trenberth, said the importance of the work done at Lauder and its contribution towards the global economy was probably underestimated.
Lauder is one of 15 sites around the world contributing information to a global climate research network aiming for the highest possible quality measurements of upper air climate variables.
This data will provide a fingerprint of changes in climate to improve predictions about what might happen with climate change in 30 or 40 years, so the effects could be mitigated, Niwa atmospheric processes group manager Paul Johnston said.
Dr Trenberth said the work being done now was important for the world long term.
Mrs Dean said the way to convince people sceptical about climate change was to provide them with the science behind it.
