Australia is the land of drought of flooding rains, driven by events such as El Nino. But despite this variability, some parts of Australia are clearly drying out.
The Great Barrier Reef might get all the attention, but what about our western coral reefs? Warmer waters and human impacts mean these reefs are in trouble.
January hurricanes are rare events, but two have already formed this month. Atmospheric scientist Adam Sobel explains the conditions that generated Pali and Alex.
Margot Kushel, University of California, San Francisco
Field research in Oakland highlights a major issue that Americans have yet to face up to: how to deal with growing numbers of homeless older people in our streets.
The Millennium Drought ended more than five years ago, but several years of below-average rainfall and El Niño have brought drought back to many parts of Australia. Our latest report on water in Australia shows rainfall is continuing to decline in eastern Australia and increase in the north.
Terry Flew, Queensland University of Technology and Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology
When disaster strikes, more people than ever are turning to social media to find out if they’re in danger. But Australian emergency services need to work together more to learn what works to save lives.
False complacency: Hurricane Patricia didn’t devastate Mexico as feared, but provides more evidence that warming waters raise the chances of more intense storms.
Research shows that El Niño creates conditions for a certain type of hurricane – and offers clues as to how climate change can affect the severity of hurricanes.
With El Niño ramping up, Australia is in for a long, hot, dry summer - perfect conditions for blue-green algae. And that innocuous-looking pond scum can pack a toxic punch if you’re not careful.
Willem Landman, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
The upcoming El Niño event may see an even bigger drop in the water level of Lake Kariba. This will have terrible consequences for the people using the river.
High temperatures make droughts worse, right? Wrong: it’s the other way around. Ahead of an El Niño summer that looks set to bring drought to much of Australia, here’s a quick primer on how they form.