Deep ocean reefs are likely to transform with global warming bringing together species from temperate and tropical waters that may have never coexisted before, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change.
CLEX researchers find that ocean sea-ice models generally agreed on changes to average yearly cycle of freeze and melt in Antarctica, with dynamic processes dominating the sea ice edge and thermodynamic processes dominating the interior of the sea ice pack. However, the models disagreed about the trends of sea ice volume.
An unusually strong East Australian Current extension leads to an increased probability of marine heatwave days around Tasmania. Conversely, a strong Zeehan Current during these seasons decreased the probability of marine heatwave days in this region.
The Extreme Rainfall Research Program of the Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX) held a workshop on October 4 at the University of New South Wales (Sydney). There were 30 participants representing the CLEX nodes, Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and National Centre for Atmospheric Research.
Forecasting El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and anticipating how they may change with global warming remains a significant challenge for climate researchers. An ENSO complexity workshop held in November 2017 produced a follow-up paper summarising what we know about ENSO and its predictability.
The Central American mid‐summer drought (MSD) is the decline in rainfall during the middle of the wet season over Central America, which has been shown to have strong effects on agriculture and bushfires in Costa Rica. The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) has been shown to influence Costa Rican rainfall on intra‐seasonal time scales, and therefore may be important to the MSD. This research aims to find the connection between the MJO and MSD.
Heat waves are the deadliest natural hazard in Australia. Motivated by the prediction that the number of extremely hot days in subtropical Australia will increase in a warmer climate, this study aims to develop a comprehensive picture of the processes leading to extreme temperatures.
This paper shows that many models overestimate the interaction between hot and dry conditions in wet regions and therefore overamplify heat extremes. The study points to necessary model improvement to increase confidence in future projections of heat extremes.
This paper examined the likelihood of extreme marine heatwaves global using climate models simulations, with and without anthropogenic influences, concluding that these events were up to fifty times more likely due to anthropogenic climate change.
The study finds important regional consequences for precipitation and clouds formation if large changes in dimethyl-sulfide emissions were to occur. In a hypothetical case where all marine DMS emissions cease completely, we find the Earth would warm by approximately 0.5 degrees C over a ten-year period.