July 16, 2026 11:34 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
When it comes to making the most of his involvement with 21st Century Weather, self-confessed thunderstorm nerd Dr Tim Raupach is a strict adherent to the three Cs – collaboration, community and Cumulus. An Industry Scientia Senior Lecturer with the Institute for Climate Risk and Response at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Tim is an expert in hailstorms, convective processes, and precipitation microstructure. He studies how climate change affects severe convective storms and the dangerous hazards of... Read More
July 13, 2026 12:09 am
Published by Iain Strachan
When the temperature climbs into the high thirties, millions of Australians reach for the same switch. Air conditioners hum into life, homes cool down, and electricity demand begins its steady climb towards the evening peak. Keeping enough power flowing on those hot summer afternoons is already one of the biggest challenges facing the electricity grid, and it’s only set to increase as global average temperatures continue to climb. New research from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of... Read More
June 5, 2026 3:45 am
Published by Iain Strachan
In Greek mythology, Theseus unspooled a ball of string behind himself as he ventured deeper into the dreaded labyrinth of King Minos. After defeating the Minotaur – a terrifying beast that lived within the maze on the island of Crete – the Athenian hero used the string to retrace his steps and escape the labyrinth. At 21st Century Weather, our scientists are only able to successfully defeat the wicked problems and computational demons of complex climate modelling thanks to modern-day... Read More
June 3, 2026 10:24 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
New research led by UNSW suggests that as the climate warms, the conditions that produce hailstorms are drifting towards the poles, leaving winter crops increasingly exposed. A hailstorm can undo a season’s work in minutes. It can strike quickly and unevenly, shredding wheat, bruising fruit and flattening crops, while leaving neighbouring paddocks untouched. In a new Nature Climate Change study, scientists from UNSW Sydney say the geography and seasonality of that risk is changing. As the planet warms, the atmospheric conditions that... Read More
April 20, 2026 12:49 am
Published by Iain Strachan
Deadly heatwave events are occurring at temperatures and humidity levels previously thought to be survivable, according to a new paper led by 21st Century Weather and featuring a team of international researchers. A study by Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick and her collaborators looked at heatwaves that occurred in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) during 2024, Bangkok (Thailand) during 2024, Phoenix (United States) during 2023, Mount Isa (Australia) during 2019, Larkana (Pakistan) during 2015, and Seville (Spain) in 2003. The events featured climatologically extreme... Read More
April 19, 2026 11:49 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
A giant rotating tank of water in a laboratory in Canberra is an alternative to supercomputers for the scientists trying to predict the impacts of climate change – and the results are a mix of good and bad news for Australia. A key challenge facing the world’s researchers is understanding the role of polar amplification on the Earth. Polar amplification refers to the phenomenon in which human-driven weather and climate change happens faster and with more strength in the Arctic... Read More
March 30, 2026 9:36 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
Tasmania’s rainfall is driven by a diverse range of weather systems, with new research revealing how these systems shape seasonal variability across the state. The findings come from a study led by 21st Century Weather researchers based at the University of Tasmania, which examined the contributions of different weather systems to Tasmania’s rainfall. The study shows that over 80% of Tasmania’s annual rainfall and more than 90% of moderate to heavy rain days are associated with extratropical cyclones, cold fronts,... Read More
March 11, 2026 11:33 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
Analysis of high-resolution satellite data shows that southeastern Australia is at greatest risk of ‘solar droughts’ due to extended periods of low sunlight, while inland regions are least likely to experience persistent cloud cover. The proportion of Australia’s total electricity generated by solar panels has been rapidly growing in recent years, and will increase further as the country transitions to net-zero carbon emissions. This transition is an urgent requirement to limit further negative impacts from human-caused climate change. To maximise... Read More
February 10, 2026 1:48 am
Published by Iain Strachan
One of the major challenges in tackling the climate crisis today is effectively communicating scientific knowledge. Climate Vocabularies proposes a radical shift to climate communication, positioning music in a driving role. By working with leading musicians and scientists, Climate Vocabularies explores how music can enhance science storytelling to create more compelling and emotionally resonant climate messaging, and how arts-science collaboration can lead to innovations in creative practice. This Australian Research Council Discovery Project will entangle music and science research processes and shape... Read More
February 1, 2026 10:06 pm
Published by Iain Strachan
Breaking the drought is the untold story of how two young Australian scientists proved the world’s leading meteorologists wrong about El Niño, and helped to establish modern seasonal forecasting. If you lived in certain parts of the world in 1982 and 1983, you could have been forgiven for thinking the end was near. Changes to ocean temperatures and negative impacts on food chains decimated populations of Galapagos penguins and Peruvian sea lions and fur seals. Heavy rain and flooding in... Read More
