Bureau celebrates 40 years of research at Cape Grim
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Bureau of Meteorology’s Cape Grim Air Pollution Baseline Station. Located on Tasmania's remote northwest coast, it is one of the world's most important atmospheric monitoring sites.
Cape Grim provides a unique atmospheric record as it samples some of the cleanest air in the world, after it crosses the Southern Ocean from the tip of South America without passing over any other land mass.
It provides the Southern Hemisphere’s most comprehensive set of atmospheric greenhouse gas information, along with the measurements of ozone-depleting chemicals, solar radiation, reactive gases and basic meteorological components such as wind, air pressure and humidity.
Cape Grim is now globally recognised as one of only three premier World Meteorological Organization (WMO) global reference stations for the measurement of greenhouse gases.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Director, Dr Andrew Johnson, said long-term monitoring, measuring and analysis conducted at Cape Grim shows the world’s atmosphere has changed.
“The information and data collected at the Cape Grim Station for the past 40 years has allowed scientists across Australia, and the world, to further understand our changing climate and strengthened our ability to track the progress of our response.
“We congratulate all the scientists and staff associated with the station for their hard work over the past four decades,” he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology operates the Cape Grim facility and CSIRO analyses and models the data, which are made available to Australian government and international agencies, industry and the public.
As the world works to reduce the rate of global warming, Cape Grim’s measurements along with those at the other WMO reference sites in Hawaii and Canada, will continue to play a significant role in monitoring the composition of the world's atmosphere.
Further information about the Cape Grim Station is available at www.bom.gov.au/inside/cgbaps/