Here we are, roughly a third of the way through 2021 and also at about the mid-point of CLEX’s seven-year lifecycle. Many of you will no doubt be aware we were formally reviewed by the ARC in the second half of last year and the review findings were delivered early this year.
The newly formulated Attribution and Risk research program is by its very nature focused on the impacts of weather and climate on our society. A key piece of research on business risk and the emergence of climate risk perfectly highlighted this.
Welcome to the first Weather and Climate Interactions RP report. The new program name is simply a result of rationalising CLEX’s continuing research program under new headings that more clearly delineate the focus of the work we do.
In September 2020, IAG and NCAR released a report Severe Weather in a Changing Climate (second edition), which incorporated research findings from numerous CLEX researchers. CLEX feedback also led to the incorporation of a new section on connected extremes in this report, highlighting the value of research into weather extremes.
CLEX Director Andy Pitman highlights the importance of our research at a challenging time in southern and eastern Australia as a combination of drought, fire and hot weather confront communities, and as air quality in some cities reaches dangerous levels.