Climate change

tropical island beach

Salamo Fulivai reads the nightly news in Tonga but when Tropical Cylcone Gita arrived it was more than a story. Fortunately, forewarned is forearmed. Just months earlier Salamo had been part of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction training.

storm clouds over an outback highway fringed with red dirt

As work gathers pace for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s next climate predictions, scientists sense a groundswell of change to try and meet the Paris Agreement.

photo of historic tidal marigram

We're dusting off old tide records, some dating back to the late 19th century, in a project to digitise these old hard-copy records so the data they contain can be used to analyse how extreme sea levels in Australia have changed over time.

red gums in creek bed

For the first time, scientists have quantified how much water trees on the Murray-Darling floodplain need, and when they need it. The results show that we cannot tell the health of a tree just by looking at its canopy—we need to look inside the tree.

Steve Rintoul

Dr Steve Rintoul is embarking on his 13th voyage to the Antarctic. On board the RV Investigator and armed with new deep water robots, he and his team will be probing the remaining unknowns of the Southern Ocean's role in our climate system.

storm clouds

The science of thunderstorm asthma is relatively unknown, what is least understood is the interaction between pollen and thunderstorms.

profile of person looking left with cloudy sky

Dr Helen Cleugh is still motivated by lessons learned back on the family farm in central Otago. She's now leading CSIRO's Climate Science Centre.

Simulating the Earth’s myriad physical, chemical and biological processes is a big ask. But it must be done if we are to work out how what we do today will change the future climate. Thanks to this Australian ‘earth system model’, we’re getting a clearer picture of what’s ahead.

aerial of coastline

Contrary to popular belief, the ozone hole does not reach Australia. But its effects are felt the world over. CSIRO scientists are creating a climate-chemistry model that will lead global science on the ozone hole recovery.