A ground-breaking £1.5 million climate simulator, now operational at the University of Exeter, is offering scientists an unprecedented opportunity to study the effects of climate change in a controlled environment. The Global Meteorological Simulator (GMS) can replicate wind, rain, mist, and a wide range of global weather patterns—both current and future—allowing researchers to “bring the weather into the lab.”

Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the University of Exeter, the facility is one of the few in the world capable of simulating multiple weather conditions simultaneously. It features four plant growth chambers, enabling the study of four distinct climates at once.

The simulator is already being used to investigate how climate-driven diseases spread through rice crops—an essential food source for billions of people. By mimicking tropical conditions like those in China and India, researchers aim to better understand and prevent crop destruction.

“We really need to try and understand and prevent the destruction of the crop in order to safeguard our food security in the future,” said Dr Richard Lindsay, part of the research team.

The GMS is also helping scientists explore how pollinators like bees respond to increasingly erratic weather.

The GMS will be made available to the international research community, reinforcing Devon’s role as a leader in climate science and innovation.

For more information visit BBC News.