Categories for
January 29, 2025 1:29 am
Published by Iain Strachan
New research conducted using machine learning has highlighted the importance of focusing on specific seasons and regions when using major modes of climate variability to predict rainfall. Large-scale modes of climate variability, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), are often identified in advance by major weather organisations around the world. They play an important role in forming seasonal forecasts, and can give an indication of whether we could receive more or less rain... Read More
January 28, 2025 9:51 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
Slow-moving systems of low pressure, high levels of atmospheric moisture and a perfect storm of La Niña, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the Southern Annular Mode caused Australia’s devastating 2022 floods, but more research is needed to understand the role of climate change in future heavy rainfall. Eastern Australia experienced record-breaking rainfall and flooding during 2022, which devastated communities and led to over AU$6 billion of damage. Since then, Australia’s leading climate and weather researchers have been working to investigate... Read More
December 19, 2024 4:59 am
Published by Iain Strachan
Critical physiological limits to human heat tolerance are drawing ever closer, highlighting the urgent need to limit further climate warming and emphasising the adaptation challenge ahead. Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, 21st Century Weather researchers and their collaborators at institutions around the world offered a stark reminder that the hottest boreal summer on record has driven widespread humid heat mortality across every continent of the Northern Hemisphere in 2024. Sufficiently high combinations of air temperature and humidity (levels... Read More
December 10, 2024 4:28 am
Published by Iain Strachan
21st Century Weather congratulates our Chief Investigator Ailie Gallant, who has been elected a Fellow of the Australian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society (AMOS). Ailie is an Associate Professor in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University, and a leading expert in climate extremes, particularly drought. Her election as an AMOS Fellow is recognition of her outstanding achievements and major contributions to the field. Ailie’s research has included notable studies on flash droughts in Australia and the role... Read More
December 10, 2024 1:57 am
Published by Iain Strachan
21st Century Weather’s Helen Cleugh & Kim Reid have received distinguished awards from the Australian Meteorology & Oceanographic Society (AMOS). Morton Medal: Helen Cleugh The 2024 Morton Medal was awarded to Dr Helen Cleugh, chair of the 21st Century Weather Advisory Board. According to AMOS, through her own research, and especially through her research leadership and clear vision, Helen has had a profound positive impact on the national and international fabric of climate science and its people. As a micrometeorologist,... Read More
November 26, 2024 10:20 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
21st Century Weather supports the recommendations made in A Decadal Plan for Australian Earth System Science 2024–2033. The Decadal Plan has been developed by the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for Earth System Science (NCESS). Members of the NCESS include 21st Century Weather Chief Investigators Julie Arblaster, Claire Vincent and Negin Nazarian. The plan calls for the urgent establishment of a national institute responsible for coordinating the science required to transform Australia’s response to climate change. According to the researchers involved,... Read More
October 9, 2024 2:45 am
Published by Iain Strachan
When it comes to Australia’s cutting-edge climate modelling software, removing barriers to trust and understanding for users is crucial. Tasked with answering that challenge in 2024 was the ACCESS Community Workshop, which took place in September at the Shine Dome in Canberra. The Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (ACCESS) is a computer modelling framework that contains atmospheric, ocean, sea-ice and land surface models, which in turn are coupled to chemical and biological models. These models are tools that... Read More
October 1, 2024 1:41 am
Published by Iain Strachan
Tapping into local knowledge can be the key to any successful journey, and the same rule applies when it comes to building more accurate climate and weather models. Research organisations across the globe are seeking to better understand the mechanisms governing our atmospheric dynamics, ranging from planetary-scale interactions right down to local conditions. Among them is the Met Office, the United Kingdom’s national weather and climate service, where Dr Humphrey Lean – a recent visitor to 21st Century Weather –... Read More
September 24, 2024 3:49 am
Published by Iain Strachan
Thinking deeply about our weather and climate has been a lifelong pursuit for Richard Jones, whose journey has taken him from class-room window curiosity to one of the world’s leading meteorology organisations. Richard is a senior scientist within the regional model development and evaluation team at the Met Office, the United Kingdom’s national weather and climate service. And while few of us are able to completely realise our childhood dreams, being tasked with uncovering the mechanisms behind atmospheric dynamics, precipitation... Read More
September 19, 2024 4:52 am
Published by Iain Strachan
Please join us in congratulating our Chief Investigator Professor Steven Sherwood, who has been elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. The AGU’s Fellows program recognises members who have made exceptional contributions to Earth and space science through a breakthrough, discovery, or innovation in their field. Fellows act as external experts, capable of advising government agencies and other organisations outside the sciences upon request. Steven, who is part of the Climate Change Research Centre at UNSW in Sydney and... Read More
