The most recent generation of models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project better captures rainfall drivers, extreme heat events, and other facets of regional climate. On the heels of an unprecedented wildfire season, climate is yet again a […]
Read more
The world’s drinking water faces a new threat, with the largest study of its kind finding that climate change and increasing urbanisation are contaminating the aquifers that sustain more than half of the world’s population. A study led […]
Read more
It has been estimated that as the Earth warms the atmosphere will be able to hold around 7% more moisture for each degree of global warming. As a result, it is expected extreme precipitation events will vary in […]
Read more
The NSW government will not take into account the latest drought in calculating how much water should be available to irrigators under draft plans condemned by regional councils and a Nationals MP. While dams that supply some of […]
Read more
Dean Lewins/AAP The last bushfire season showed Australians they can no longer pretend climate change will not affect them. But there’s another climate change influence we must also face up to: increasingly scarce water on our continent. Under […]
Read more
A report outlining the current state of climate processes research in Australia was recently put together for the National Climate Science Advisory Committee. What follows is the Executive Summary – you can read the full report here. This […]
Read more
New international research has found a worrying change in the Indian Ocean’s surface temperatures that puts southeast Australia on course for increasingly hot and dry conditions. The work led by The Australian National University (ANU) and the ARC […]
Read more
After the intensely dry conditions of 2019, January and February have brought much-needed rain. Dams in many cities and towns were replenished and some farmers may be able to grow a crop for the first time in several […]
Read more
Throughout summer, Sydney’s water storage level fell alarmingly. Level 2 water restrictions were imposed and the New South Wales government prepared to double the capacity of its desalination plant. But then it began to rain, and rain. Sydney […]
Read more
Recent helpful rains dampened fire grounds and gave many farmers a reason to cheer. But much of southeast Australia remains in severe drought. Australia is no stranger to drought, but the current one stands out when looking at […]
Read more
The past Australian summer was a season of two contrasting halves. So did the midsummer weather change make a dent in the drought, and is it likely to continue through autumn? The first half of summer was exceptionally […]
Read more
Hydromorphological attributes such as river width, flow regime, water extent and gradient provide fundamental information for understanding river hydrological, biogeochemical and ecological processes in floodplain-river systems, identifying flooding-prone areas, assessing river conveyance capacity, estimating river depth and discharge, […]
Read more
Nonperennial rivers are a major—and growing—part of the global river network. New research and science-based policies are needed to ensure the sustainability of these important waterways. As we make our way into the age of big data, there […]
Read more
Jet stream appears to have stopped moving south and may be moving back towards normal International cooperation on ozone-depleting chemicals is helping to return the southern jet stream to a normal state after decades of human-caused disruption, a […]
Read more
A stoush is brewing on the state’s inland rivers over the proposal for a new weir that could reduce flows to the “degraded” Macquarie Marshes just as the wetlands start to recover from drought. WaterNSW has begun consulting […]
Read more
Acting inspector-general for the Murray-Darling Basin Mick Keelty is calling for a different kind of leadership to get the management of water right. Mr Keelty has been touring regional towns affected by the Murray-Darling Basin including Swan Hill, […]
Read more
A $24 million deal made to help the Darling River flow again could now be “flipped” to allow the New South Wales Government to extract river water to spread on its own floodplain. Locals downstream of Toorale National […]
Read more
Several dams hardest hit by the ongoing drought in New South Wales have experienced welcome reprieve with recent rainfall resulting in the first inflows in years and a minor increase to dam levels. But while widespread rain has […]
Read more
Drought is a complex phenomenon due to its underlying physical interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere. Its creeping nature and potentially large spatial extent make drought a long-lasting and costly natural hazard. However, the onset of drought can unfold on […]
Read more
Despite widespread interest in hydrologic variability, there is currently no general climatology of the variability of the water cycle over land. This has limited the development of the underlying science of hydrologic extremes. This paper uses a recently […]
Read more