Dozens of scientists from around the world are set to descend on Fishguard and Goodwick this autumn for an event which addresses climate change and the very origins of civilisation.

Dr Bruce Moffett, who works out of Goodwick's Ocean Lab, has organised a three day conference entitled Cracking the Water Cycle.

Dr Moffett is a leading authority on bio- precipitation; the study of clouds and how they form rain. His area of expertise is ice nuclei, the tiny particles that trigger rainfall from clouds. It is work that could play a pivotal role in how we deal with climate change in the future.

"In 2016 we still do not know what makes it rain," he said. "To get rain ice must form in a cloud. Pure water, which is what is present in clouds as it is distilled from oceans and lakes, does not freeze at 0C but at -36C.

"It never gets that cold in Fishguard yet we still get rain. That is because ice making /rain making particles are blown of the ground, oceans and rivers and lofted in to the clouds to initiate the formation of ice and hence rainfall."

Cracking the Water Cycle will bring scientists from North and South America, Africa, India, mainland Europe and the UK to Fishguard, where they will begin to unravel the water cycle, vital for civilisation and all forms of life.

The town has been chosen as the venue because a recent publication, changing the way we view the role of rivers in these processes, uses data from the river Gwaun.

It is hoped that the three day conference this October will just be the start, with a plan being formulated for an ongoing international sampling and analysis campaign.

For more information contact Dr Moffett at the Ocean Lab, Goodwick, on 01348 874737.