Prince shares joke with city scientists
THE Prince of Wales shared a joke with Birmingham scientists as he dropped in this week to visit a woodland research lab which could help meet the future challenges of climate change.
Charles was visiting the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (Face) facility in Norbury Junction, Staffordshire, on Tuesday.
Charles was presented with a gift from the university – an engraved bottle, found in the forest during site construction, which had been filled with air from the forest at its predicted carbon dioxide level in 2050. Accepting the present, he then joked with the scientists, researchers and dignitaries: “I’ll be 102 by then!”
The site was established in 2014 with a £15 million donation to provide research on woodlands and forests.
The outdoor facility is made up of gantry towers in the oak forest, measuring 80ft-90ft in height.
Unveiling a plaque made of planed oak, the prince quipped: “You’re not going to put it at the top of the tree, are you?”
The experiment is aimed at modelling the effect of carbon dioxide levels based on assumptions of levels in 2050, and using that data to help understand climate changes, and what forests might be able to do to help.
Experiment director Professor Michael Tausz said the facility was “massively important” to understanding and accurately modelling climate change.
He added Charles’s “very important”.
“He has such a high profile and can tell people about what we are doing here,” he said. visit was