It was the Seine’s rise and fall, in response to heavy rain, that inspired our current understanding of river systems.
Only clouds that are tall with big water drops can make rain, but they also stop most of the light, which makes them look grey.
Marcella Cheng/The Conversation
Last year saw plenty of warm weather around the country, but other notable events included dry months in the southeast, some very cold winter nights, and record-warm dry season days in the north.
Georgina, age 5, wants to know why rainbows are round.
The Acros Fukuoka eco-building in Fukuoka, Japan boasts one of the world’s most famous green roofs. The GRIT Lab at the University of Toronto is working to bring green roofs to the city and beyond in order to combat climate change.
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Green roofs could play a critical role in helping cities cope with extreme rainfall events in the age of climate change. The roofs essentially suck up stormwater like sponges if designed properly.
The record floods of 1954 and 1974 still stand as Lismore’s high-water marks. But Tropical Cyclone Debbie delivered her deluge far more abruptly than the rains that triggered those historic floods.
The Pasha Bulker ran aground amid the full force of an East Coast Low back in 2007.
AAP Image/Dean Lewins
Most people in Australia’s southeast are familiar with the stormy weather known as East Coast Lows. But they might not realise how much scientific progress has been made in understanding them.
People in the Philippines have been warned to brace for wet and wild weather, as this year’s El Nino shapes up to be the strongest since 1998.
EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO/AAP
The seesaw between El Niño and La Niña is set to get stronger with global warming. Signs are that this year and next will deliver a big swing from one to the other, prompting fires and floods across the world.
Rain: you can tell when rain is coming just by the smell.
Flickr/Ulf Bodin
We all know what to expect from summer in Australia. From December through March it will be hot, there will be storms and floods, and there will be bush fires. It’s been like that for as long as history…
Australia’s latest summer has been significant for weather and for climate.
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This summer hasn’t just felt hot. It’s been hot. In fact, the summer of 2012-13 is now the hottest on record. Average temperatures beat the record set in the summer of 1997-98, and daytime maximum temperatures…
A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, and that can lead to more extreme rainfall.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Rainfall extremes are increasing around the world, and the increase is linked to the warming of the atmosphere which has taken place since pre-industrial times. This is the conclusion of a recent study…
What does it matter how much rain falls on the ocean? For understanding climate, it matters quite a lot.
Ines Hegedus-Garcia
Paul J Durack, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Surprising evidence from the oceans suggests they are responding to warming at a faster rate than we previously thought. These changes are expressed by patterns of freshening and enhanced salinity in the…