While much of Australia has received average to above average rainfall over recent months, parts of Australia such as western Queensland are in the middle of a drought. Drought has been a feature of the…
Compiled in collaboration with Australian Science Media Centre. New research by the Bureau of Meteorology - published shows El Niño will intensify between 2050 and 2100 thanks to climate change. El Niño…
Longer droughts and hotter temperatures are taking down the world’s forests.
Jonathan Nalder
Over the last 30 years, every forested continent has had a widespread drought which has killed trees. The geographical scale of drought, and the duration and almost coordinated nature of these droughts…
Before the 1980s, farmers thought lack of water limited their yield. New crops and sowing methods are breaking yield barriers.
Michael Middleton
Changing climate, drought and urban expansion threaten the yield of Australia’s wheat. But changes in cropping methods could address reduced water and lead to a jump in yield not seen since the late 1980s…
New drought policy is designed to manage the risks climate change conditions pose to successful crop production in Western Australia.
Flickr/Grevillea
Climate change, and its associated variability, is posing a challenge for farm businesses in Western Australia. The grainbelt has experienced a 20% decline in rainfall over the last several decades, more…
The lessons learnt from the Millennium drought may not help us prepare for the next Big Dry.
Flickr/thoughtfactory
Three years ago in March 2010, southeast Australia was still in the grip of “the big dry” or the “millennium drought” - billed as the worst drought since European settlement. Dams across the Murray-Darling…
Over the last six years, there have been major investments made in “climate independent” water supplies and other measures to help “drought-proof” most of Australia’s capital cities. These have included…
Last time around, the Victorian Government made too many decisions predicated on a stereotyped idea of Australian drought.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
The notion that Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the planet has created a persistent stereotype. Recent weather shows it to be misguided. It suits embarrassed planners, myopic politicians…
Global drought has not increased significantly over the past 60 years, a report in Nature has found. Previous assessments of global drought have relied on the Palmer Drought Severity Index, which only…
The waters of the Kimberley in Western Australia have long tempted politicians and engineers wanting to make the drier southern regions bloom.
Flickr/Koala:Bear
Settler Australians have a long history of trying to harness the continent’s great rivers to water the dead heart of the country. Schemes such as those of Bradfield and Idriess in the 1930s and 1940s sought…
The rains came too late for these Texas wheat crops, which are stunted and thin. But there’s more to rising food prices than bad weather.
Flickr/agrilifetoday
Not so long ago, things were looking good. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) had announced on the 5th of July that the FAO food price index had been falling for the third consecutive month…
Flood waters ravaged Toowoomba, in Queensland, in January 2011.
AAP/Keira Lappin
Severe droughts, floods and landslides devastated parts of the world last year as carbon dioxide concentrations climbed to the highest levels in recorded history, according to a global report on climate…
Scientists have pinpointed the “stay green” DNA in barley that could be the key to developing crops better able to thrive…
We’re just coming to grips with Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, one of the many climate modes that cause Australia’s wide and wonderful range of climate variability.
mattharvey1/Flickr
While most people now understand that the enhanced greenhouse effect means a much warmer planet, communicating regional shifts in weather remains a significant challenge. As with most complex science…