News

  • People walk along a covered pedestrian bridge on a rainy day. Several individuals hold umbrellas and wear face masks, with wet tiles visible underfoot and blue support beams lining the walkway.

    UrbanTALES: The biggest urban climate simulation dataset ever released

    Understanding why air moves the way it does between buildings has long been one of urban climate science’s toughest challenges. Airflow in streets and between towers is shaped by a maze of real-world factors: building heights, street layouts, wind direction, and even the gaps between structures.  For decades, researchers could only study these effects using

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  • A turbulent Southern Ocean scene with large, churning waves and white spray under overcast grey skies, capturing the power and roughness of stormy conditions at sea.

    Southern Annular Mode in most positive state in 1,000 years, review finds

    A new scientific review has revealed that the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), the Southern Hemisphere’s most influential climate driver, is now in its most positive state in over 1,000 years. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, this positive state is projected to persist throughout the 21st Century, with long-term implications for Antarctica and the

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  • Five individuals sit beside a rectangular water basin, performing ablution by washing their faces and hands. They wear traditional attire and are positioned in a courtyard with Islamic architectural elements, suggesting the setting is a mosque or religious site. The scene captures a moment of spiritual preparation and communal observance.

    Deadly, record-breaking heatwaves locked in for 1,000 years, even under net zero pathways

    We must prepare for a future of frequent, deadly heatwaves, which will worsen in severity the longer it takes to reach net zero, new research has shown. Researchers working at the ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO used climate modelling and supercomputers to learn how heatwaves will

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  • Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick receives Scientist Communicator of the Year Award

    21st Century Weather’s Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick has been named the Scientist Communicator of the Year for 2025. Awarded by Australian Science Communicators (ASC), it recognises a researcher who communicates their work, or the work of their field, to audiences with clarity and excellence. In particular, the quality of the scientist’s science communication expertise is recognised by

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  • A vast, snow-covered Antarctic landscape with rugged white mountains under a clear blue sky. In the foreground, deep blue ocean waters contrast sharply with the brilliant white ice and snow of the coastline and glacier-covered peaks.

    From the tropics to the pole: How El Niño touches Antarctica

    A team of Australian climate scientists has explored how weather patterns in the tropical Pacific Ocean can influence the chemistry of snow falling thousands of kilometres away in Antarctica. Working with an ice core drilled at Mount Brown South in East Antarctica, the researchers studied traces of sea salt preserved in layers of snow and

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