Articles on Atmospheric science

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The higher the plume, the bigger the problem. Jim Peaco/Wikimedia Commons

November 10, 2016

Firestorms: the bushfire/thunderstorm hybrids we urgently need to understand

When a bushfire rages so high it creates its own thunderstorm, it becomes a 'firestorm' - and makes life much more difficult for firefighters. We still have a lot to learn about what triggers them.

October 10, 2016

Trees are much better at creating clouds and cooling the climate than we thought

Hamish Gordon, University of Leeds and Cat Scott, University of Leeds

New study changes what we know about the pre-industrial atmosphere – and how we predict future climate change.

Ban on CFCs in aerosol sprays and refrigerants has led to a steady shrinking of the ozone hole. PiccoloNamek

July 4, 2016

Shrinking hole in the ozone layer shows what collective action can achieve

Anja Schmidt, University of Leeds and Ryan Neely, University of Leeds

What the Montreal Protocol has done for the ozone hole threat other international accords could do for climate change – if we all agree.

June 21, 2016

Aircraft contrails make clouds brighter – new study

Matthias Tesche, University of Hertfordshire

While planes still emit too much carbon, they may also help the climate by ensuring clouds bounce more sunlight back into space.

CSIRO’s Birdsville station is one of several in Australia that monitors aerosols in our skies. CSIRO

May 19, 2016

NASA scientist is right: Australia needs CSIRO’s aerosol monitoring more than ever

Surya Karthik Mukkavilli, UNSW and Merlinde Kay, UNSW

A leading NASA scientist has asked CSIRO to stay in its global network that monitors atmospheric dust and pollution. The data are vital to understand the effects on weather and climate.

Tasmania’s Cape Grim monitoring station passed a crucial carbon dioxide threshold this month. Bureau of Meteorology

May 16, 2016

Southern hemisphere joins north in breaching carbon dioxide milestone

Paul Krummel, CSIRO and Paul Fraser, CSIRO

Atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements at Tasmania's Cape Grim and Antarctica's Casy Station have now officially passed 400 parts per million and are likely to stay above that for decades to come.

ESA’s Swarm constellation reveals new rapid changes of our magnetic field, tied directly to the heart of our planet’s molten iron core. ESA/ATG Medialab

May 16, 2016

Earth’s magnetic heartbeat, a thinner past and new alien worlds

Alan Duffy, Swinburne University of Technology

Space research never stops and it seems neither do the surprises. On ABC Breakfast News I covered some huge results from the last few weeks. Be still my beating (magnetic) heart Earth’s magnetic field…

New Horizons continues to help unravel the icy dwarf planet’s secrets. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

March 17, 2016

Picture of Pluto further refined by months of New Horizons data

Mike Summers, George Mason University

After last summer's Pluto flyby, the New Horizons spacecraft started sending data back to Earth – at 2 kilobits per second. Here's some of what scientists have learned so far from that rich, slow cache.

Top contributors

Paul Fraser
Honorary Fellow, CSIRO
Paul Krummel
Research Group Leader, CSIRO
Jason Sharples
Associate Professor, School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences, UNSW Australia, UNSW
Alan Duffy
Associate Professor and Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology
Mike Summers
Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy, George Mason University
Surya Karthik Mukkavilli
Researcher/Engineer, UNSW
Merlinde Kay
Senior Lecturer, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW
Matthias Tesche
Lecturer in Physics, Atmospheric Remote Sensing Laboratory, University of Hertfordshire
Anja Schmidt
Academic Research Fellow in Volcanic Impacts and Hazards, University of Leeds
Ryan Neely
Lecturer in Observational Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds
Cat Scott
Research Fellow in Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds
Hamish Gordon
Research Fellow in Amospheric Science, University of Leeds