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.
Climate change is affecting weather patterns in many locations. In East Africa, changing rainfall would challenge the livelihoods of farmers. However, perceptions of local farmers and data from local weather stations differ. Is rainfall changing? How can we understand these two important information sources?
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.
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.
The past four months since out last newsletter has been tightly packed with the official launch of CLEX, the legacy event for ARCCSS and an acceleration in important research across all of our programs.
Research has now begun in earnest in the Drought Research Program with all key staff finally in place. This has proved timely. At the time of writing (August 2018) most of NSW has been drought declared and forecasters suggesting little sign of drought-breaking rains over coming months.
The Extreme Rainfall Research Program has put personnel in place and is working on research into how extreme rainfall is represented in models.
The Climate Variability and Teleconnections Research Program has formed into three separate clusters – SAM, Tropical Variability and Oceans.
Steefan Contractor attended the ARCCSS/CLEX winter school from June 25-29, 2018. The theme of the school was climate extremes. It involved lectures in the morning on various climate extremes (such as heatwaves and rainfall extremes) and also a group activity in the afternoons.
Convection was explored in a recent 1-day CLEX workshop held on June 21, 2018, at The University of Melbourne.