Category: RP2 Heatwaves and cold outbreaks
Research brief: First observational analysis of SSW events shows winter impacts.
When the “Beast from the East” brought cold temperatures and heavy snowfall to western Europe in February and March 2018, a lot of people were quick to link the extreme weather to a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) that had recently occurred. CLEX researchers found there was a surprising lack of research on the relationship between SSWs and climate extremes in Europe using observations, so they sought to look at this in more detail to see if this link can really be made.
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Research brief: How land and ocean characteristics impact wintertime stationary waves.
This study looks at the average climate in the northern hemisphere with a simplified climate model. It considers the atmospheric effects of mountain ranges (Tibet, Rockies), contrasts between land and ocean surface, and ocean currents at the surface (such as the Gulf Stream) and their impact on winter climate.
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Indian Ocean phenomenon spells climate trouble for Australia
New international research has found a worrying change in the Indian Ocean’s surface temperatures that puts southeast Australia on course for increasingly hot and dry conditions.
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Research brief: Wind reversals have same surface impacts as sudden stratospheric warming events
Using a simplified climate model, researchers forced the south polar winds to reverse arbitrarily and found that the final impact at the surface is indistinguishable from events where the winds reverse in response to natural phenomena.
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Research brief: More hot days at the same global temperature in a warming world than a world where warming has plateaued.
Using a novel methodology applied to CMIP5 projections CLEX researchers found that the local temperatures experienced by 90% of people would be substantially higher in a transient (still warming) climate than an equilibrium climate where the temperatures have plateaued, for the same global temperature.
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Research brief: SAM may be unrelated to mid-latitude weather.
Research by CLEX scientists and colleagues re-examines some of the basic assumptions and interpretations in the theory. In particular, they show the SAM cannot be interpreted as a descriptor of mid-latitude variability and it has little imprint on the weather of the storm track.
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Research brief: New model shows how air conditioners will change energy demand with climate change
This work describes a new cross-scale modelling framework for urban environments and applies it to calculate how electricity and gas demand will change under future climate change and air conditioner (AC) ownership scenarios.
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Research brief: Marine heatwaves – the models vs reality
In this work, CLEX researchers compared the performance of three ocean simulations – with low, medium and high resolutions – when representing marine heatwaves.
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Research brief: How dry soils amplify Australian heatwaves
CLEX researchers found that regions where there is a larger drying trend tend to be more sensitive to land water availability and have more heatwave days. They found that the effect of dry soils before a heatwave varies considerably across Australia.
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Climate change will increase frequency of Australia’s most dangerous fires
Catastrophic wildfires like the Black Saturday wildfires in 2009 and Canberra Wildfires of 2003, which were so large and dangerous that they generated their own weather systems – including the world’s first filmed fire tornado – are likely to be more frequent in the future as a result of climate change across southeast Australia
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Record warm temperatures above Antarctica likely to bring hot and dry extremes to Australia
A new study with Centre of Excellence researchers warns that changes in springtime winds high above the South Pole could trigger higher than usual heat waves and fire-prone weather conditions in Australia.
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Research brief: The dynamics of summer heatwaves over Sydney
This study answers the questions: how different is the meteorology of heatwaves in NSW from those in Victoria, and how representative were the heatwaves of 2017 of previous heatwaves in NSW?
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Research Briefs
Research brief: Simulating tropical cyclones with ACCESS
Research brief: Comparing precipitation measurements over land from in situ, reanalysis and satellites.
Research brief: How clouds generate waves that affect vertical atmospheric motion
Research brief: Future Australian drought could lead to high carbon releases