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COP26 will not keep temperatures below 1.5°C and maybe not 2°C

October 25, 2021 9:13 am Published by Comments Off on COP26 will not keep temperatures below 1.5°C and maybe not 2°C

The Glasgow Climate Conference of Parties, COP26, is almost certain to fall short of its first goal to “keep 1.5°C within reach”. Moreover, even if it achieved its other aim to “secure global net-zero by mid-century” there is still a high probability that global temperatures will exceed 2°C if this isn’t matched by increased short-term action as well. That’s the message coming from climate scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX).

How my CLEX Undergraduate Scholarship set me up for success

September 22, 2021 8:49 am Published by Comments Off on How my CLEX Undergraduate Scholarship set me up for success

Mathilde Ritman describes her journey as a second-year undergraduate student into a CLEX research project with Linden Ashcroft. It led to a publication, a massive learning curve in coding, stints with the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, and opened a path to a career in climate science.

Australian bushfires spawn massive phytoplankton bloom

September 16, 2021 8:26 am Published by Comments Off on Australian bushfires spawn massive phytoplankton bloom

The Australian bushfires of the 2019/2020 summer had far-reaching effects. It has now been revealed in new research published in Nature that the smoke produced a phytoplankton bloom larger in area than all of Australia, thousands of kilometres away in the Southern Ocean between New Zealand and South America.

IPCC AR6 Working Group 1 report: conclusions on the evolving risk of drought

September 7, 2021 3:58 pm Published by Comments Off on IPCC AR6 Working Group 1 report: conclusions on the evolving risk of drought

Drought is a major risk to Australia with extended periods of drought affecting our social, economic and environmental systems. The newly released report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change contains significant new assessments of the science and future projections of drought.

The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: What does it mean for Tasmania?

September 7, 2021 12:17 pm Published by Comments Off on The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report: What does it mean for Tasmania?

To better understand the implications of the latest climate science for Tasmania, this brief combines information from the IPCC AR6 WG1 report, with regional assessments that contributed to the UTAS Blueprint for a climate-positive Tasmania, and expertise from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX). The regional information is based on Tasmania-specific downscaled modelling undertaken by Climate Futures for Tasmania. 

Climate Australia: Episode 3: The parched Earth

September 1, 2021 12:24 pm Published by Comments Off on Climate Australia: Episode 3: The parched Earth

Climate Australia host Lee Constable is joined by the chief investigators in the Drought team of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes – Prof Nerilie Abram, Prof Jason Evans and Dr Andrea Taschetto. Along the way, Lee discovers why drought is such a tricky topic to explore for climate scientists and why understanding how droughts may change in the future is one of the wicked problems of climate change.

Climate Australia: Episode 2 – Climate communication

September 1, 2021 12:13 pm Published by Comments Off on Climate Australia: Episode 2 – Climate communication

Climate Australia host Lee Constable is joined by CLEX Media and Communications Manager Alvin Stone; Research Fellow at Monash University and founder of Skeptical Science Dr John Cook; and Deputy Head of the UNSW School of Psychology Prof Ben Newell to explore the current research around communicating climate science

Antarctic climate variations found to originate north of Australia

August 27, 2021 11:25 am Published by Comments Off on Antarctic climate variations found to originate north of Australia

CLEX researchers have overturned a scientific paradigm that has existed for 50 years. New research published in Nature Geoscience shows the massive convection caused by the ocean just north of Australia, causes a chain reaction that is strong enough to put an almost permanent dent in the powerful winds that circle the Antarctic.

What is left in the global carbon budget?

August 25, 2021 3:37 pm Published by Comments Off on What is left in the global carbon budget?

The Paris Agreement requires countries to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to ensure that the global average temperature remains well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. But how likely are we to meet these targets?