An international team, led by Australian researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes (CLEX) and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic (IMAS) studies, have published in Nature Communications the first global assessment of the major drivers of marine heatwaves.
Natural variability has been found to play a role in the speed of warming of land surface temperatures. With indications that the negative Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation is now becoming positive, this suggests that the hiatus period is over and we are likely entering a phase of accelerated warming of global surface air temperatures.
The increase in frequency and intensity of ocean heatwaves over the past 30 years has had profound impacts on certain marine ecosystems and significantly impacted the industries that depend on them. According to new research in Nature Climate Change, marine heatwaves are now a clear and present threat to global biodiversity.
This paper proposes a standard categorisation and naming framework for marine heatwaves that works in a similar way to schemes used for tropical cyclones or earthquakes.
We are seeking an enthusiastic student with a background in physics, climate science or environmental science who is also interested in science education and outreach, to help further improve our online climate model.
This project will examine ‘mixed teleconnections’ using coupled climate models. In particular, we will examine how El Nino and La Nina events can affect western boundary currents in the Pacific and Indian basin. It will involve using large model and observational datasets and require a background in either MATLAB or python. Some experience with linux is desirable.