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Research: Atmospheric sciences
CCRC personnel aim to better understand atmospheric processes and large-scale dynamics. One reason is to reveal the behaviour of a fascinating and important component of the planet, about which many things remain surprisingly mysterious. The work also helps to develop better models for weather and climate prediction, of clear importance for agriculture, power and other industries, water management, aviation, tourism and of course the general public. Achieving a fundamental understanding based on sound mathematical and physical principles has become ever more pressing in light of climate change, which will cause future weather and climate patterns to be different from past ones, making it harder to get by on empirical "rules of thumb."
Our investigations range from questions of global importance to particular issues affecting Australia. Projects ongoing at the CCRC vary, but an area of current focus is the factors that control Australian rainfall and drought. This includes study of the physics of storms and clouds and how they interact with
climate, atmosphere-ocean dynamics and teleconnections to regional rainfall variability and change associated with climate patterns like El-Nino and the "Indian Ocean Dipole," and regional modeling of the Australian climate system. We also study changes in atmospheric extremes such as heat waves and heavy precipitation events, and investigate theories to explain these changes.
CCRC academic staff currently active in this area of research
CCRC research staff currently active in this area of research
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Announcing the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 2013-2014
06 May 2013
To mark the centenary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by the great scientist and explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, Professor Chris Turney and Dr Chris Fogwill of the CCRC are leading a privately-funded voyage of discovery to the Antarctic during the Austral summer of 2013-2014. |
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New website will let you Adrift away
24 April 2013
Dr Erik Van Sebille along with David Fuchs and Jack Murray has created a new website, Adrift, which allows visitors to track the path of flotsam for the next 10 years from almost any place by the ocean. |
More news...
The Copenhagen Diagnosis
On 25th November 2009 members of The Climate Change Research Centre, as part of a group of 26 international climate scientists, were part of a major international release of a new report synthesizing the latest climate research to emerge since the last IPCC Assessment Report of 2007.
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The Big Engine 2: oceans and weather
Federation Fellow and 2008 Eureka Prize winner, Professor Matthew England of CCRC, on the latest research into the role oceans play on weather.
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The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers
Co-authored by Professor Steven Sherwood and Professor Matt England of CCRC, this Academy of Science report aims to summarise and clarify the current understanding of the science of climate change for non-specialist readers.
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The Big Engine 1: oceans and weather
Federation Fellow and 2008 Eureka Prize winner, Professor Matthew England of CCRC, on the latest research into the role oceans play on weather.
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New insights into the climate of the past 2,000 years
A comprehensive new scientific study has revealed fresh insights into the climate of the past 2,000 years, providing further evidence that the 20th century warming was not a natural phenomenon. After 1900, increasing temperatures reversed a previous long-term cooling trend. This 20th Century warming has occurred simultaneously in all regions except Antarctica.
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The dynamics of the global ocean circulation
The ocean is far from a stagnant body of water. Instead, it is constantly in motion, at speeds from a few centimetres per second to two metres per second in the most vigorous currents.
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Leave the ocean garbage alone: we need to stop polluting first
Recent plans to clean plastics from the five massive ocean garbage patches could do more damage to the environment than leaving the plastic right where it is.
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Charting the garbage patches of the sea
Just how much plastic is there floating around in our oceans? Dr Erik van Sebille from UNSW's Climate Change Research Centre has completed a study of ocean "garbage patches", and has found that in some regions the amount of plastic outweighs that of marine life.
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