CLEX, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

The Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX) is a major initiative funded by the Australian Research Council. The Centre is an international research consortium of five Australian universities and a network of outstanding national and international partner organizations.

The Centre will improve our understanding of the processes that trigger or enhance extremes and build this understanding into our modelling systems. The improved predictions of climate extremes will enable improvements in how Australia copes with extremes now and in the future.

Breaking news

Research brief: Data assimilation produces more realistic representation of Antarctic warming

Observations and proxy data indicate that the Antarctic continent as a whole is not yet undergoing significant warming, yet climate model ensembles simulate that a significant...
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Research brief: New statistical method identifies robust reconstructions of past ENSO events

The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the dominant mode of interannual climate variability on Earth, yet climate models do not yet provide a clear consensus on how ENSO will...
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Research brief: New method produces more precise and complete representation of wave climate variability

Waves generated by the wind blowing over the surface of the ocean are able to travel immense distances and reach distant coasts. For example, it has been recognised since the...
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“Impossible” research produces 400-year El Niño record and reveals astonishing change

Picture: Drilling for coral cores on Christmas Island. Credit: Jason Turl. Melbourne: Australian scientists have developed an innovative method using cores drilled from coral to...
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Publications

Research briefs

Research brief: Drought not an automatic result of climate change

New research in Nature Climate Change suggests droughts may not increase as a result of climate change. This finding resulted from researchers investigating an apparent climate...
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Research brief: Drivers of Antarctic sea ice volume change in CMIP 5 models

The observed increase in Antarctic sea ice is thought to be mostly driven by surface winds. These winds drive the motion of sea ice and shift warm air southwards to melt ice in...
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Research brief: Redesigning the Tropical Pacific Observing System

El Niño and La Niña events, collectively referred to as ENSO, occurring in the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system trigger changes in the atmosphere and ocean circulation...
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Research brief: Which species matter most for marine ecosystems to survive climate change?

Human-induced climate change is affecting ecosystems in many different ways. In the ocean, these changes include warming, habitat destruction, fishing, nutrient inputs and...
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CLEX Research programs

Extreme rainfall

Drought

Heatwaves and cold air outbreaks

Climate variability and teleconnections