Research projects

PROJECT 5.3: Regional climate change projections science and delivery To make informed decisions about managing current and future climate risks, decision-makers across government, industry and business require access to credible,…

We’ve updated Australia’s national climate model, the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (ACCESS), so it can participate in CMIP6 and therefore be used by national and international climate researchers.

We’ve analysed past climate variability and extremes to enhance our understanding of the underpinning climate drivers, and shed light on the extent to which these extreme events are influenced by human activities.

We’ve made significant steps towards developing a decadal forecasting system and capability to fill the critical gap between seasonal climate predictions and multi-decadal climate projections. We’ve also improved understanding of marine heat wave trends, causes, the influence of human activities and the predictability of ocean temperature extremes over multi-year to decadal timescales. 

We’ve used data collected from ocean monitoring (historical archives, Argo floats and research vessels) to improve understanding of past changes in ocean temperature and salinity. We also used this data to identify sources of bias in ocean heat update efficiency in climate models, as well as to examine the connection between ocean salinity changes and water balance over Australia.

We’ve improved ACCESS’s simulation of important climate processes in the Australasian region, focusing on rainfall and weather extremes, as well as climate variability and change.

We’ve improved confidence in projections, particularly rainfall projections; run targeted workshops, presentations and training to better identify user needs and help stakeholders access climate change information; and produced more targeted projection products for stakeholders to use in decision-making.