News

  • A weathered stone house with a rusted metal roof stands abandoned in a dry, barren landscape under a clear blue sky. The structure has two chimneys, three empty window openings, and an open front door revealing the desolate terrain beyond. To the right, a cylindrical metal water tank sits on the parched ground, surrounded by sparse dry grass and patches of exposed soil. The scene evokes isolation and decay amid a vast, arid expanse.

    Reconstructing 1,000 years of El Niño and La Niña to better understand our future

    The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the world’s largest source of climate variability. In Australia, it’s contributed to devastating floods and gruelling droughts in recent years. Our understanding of ENSO is limited to recent memory and modern records. Those over the age of 50 might recall the powerful 1982-83 El Niño event, while older generations

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  • A person uses a hose to control a small brush fire beside a rural road. Smoke rises from dry grass and underbrush among trees on the left. Two vehicles are parked nearby, one equipped with a hose reel, indicating firefighting activity. The sky is clear with haze from the smoke, and the surrounding vegetation appears dry.

    Deforestation and cropland expansion driving stronger heatwaves

    New research has revealed that land clearing and rapid development can sharply intensify heatwaves beyond the impacts of global warming, offering important lessons for many countries already grappling with record-breaking heat. The study, published in the Nature journal Communications Earth & Environment, analysed Africa as a case study, but found universal physical mechanisms that apply

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  • Rocky coastal headland with steep cliffs and green vegetation, surrounded by crashing ocean waves under an overcast sky, with coastal shrubs in the foreground

    Andrea Taschetto & Kial Stewart recognised by AMOS

    21st Century Weather Chief Investigator Andrea Taschetto has been elected a Fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS), while Dr Kial Stewart received the AMOS Science Outreach Award for 2025. Andrea is an Associate Professor in the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, and leads the ‘Weather Systems

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  • Underwater view of turbulent ocean waves, showing swirling currents, bubbles, and varying shades of blue as light filters through the surface above.

    Ocean fronts revealed as key players in Earth’s carbon cycle

    Narrow bands covering just over one-third of the world’s seas are responsible for absorbing nearly three-quarters of the carbon dioxide that oceans pull from the atmosphere, new research shows. The PhD study published in Nature Climate Change reveals ocean fronts play a far larger role in regulating Earth’s carbon cycle than previously understood. Ocean fronts are boundaries

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  • A wildfire burns through dry vegetation, with intense flames engulfing bushes and trees. Thick smoke rises into the sky, obscuring the background and emphasizing the fire’s severity. The landscape appears parched, suggesting rapid fire spread and environmental vulnerability.

    Climate change made Australian heatwave five times more likely

    Previously expected just four times per century, heat at the level recently experienced by Australia is now likely every five years, and will happen every two years without much stronger action to reduce emissions. Human-induced climate change made the intense early January heatwave in Australia five times more likely, according to a new analysis by

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