Global Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and the Evolution of Life in the Palaeozoic and Early Mesozoic. A critically important problem directly affecting our society is the effects of climate change on our life support systems and environment. But the impacts of climate change and increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) on the Earth's biosphere are not well understood, so much can be learnt from examining past events that have shaped its evolution. Our research will provide important new insights i ....Global Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and the Evolution of Life in the Palaeozoic and Early Mesozoic. A critically important problem directly affecting our society is the effects of climate change on our life support systems and environment. But the impacts of climate change and increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) on the Earth's biosphere are not well understood, so much can be learnt from examining past events that have shaped its evolution. Our research will provide important new insights into how life evolved and survived periods of major environmental upheaval in Earth history, especially its responses to large shifts in global temperatures and atmospheric CO2. These outcomes will provide valuable input to help project how future global warming and rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels will likely impact our modern biosphere.Read moreRead less
Ocean Acidification in a Rapidly Increasing CO2 World. Carbon dioxide not only acts as a greenhouse gas but is being dissolved at increasing rates into the surface waters of the world's oceans, causing ocean acidity. We will examine how the rapidly increasing trend towards acidity in the oceans surrounding Australia is effecting the ability of marine organisms to calcify and determine the rate at which the world's ocean sink for CO2 is being reduced. New constraints will be placed on the critica ....Ocean Acidification in a Rapidly Increasing CO2 World. Carbon dioxide not only acts as a greenhouse gas but is being dissolved at increasing rates into the surface waters of the world's oceans, causing ocean acidity. We will examine how the rapidly increasing trend towards acidity in the oceans surrounding Australia is effecting the ability of marine organisms to calcify and determine the rate at which the world's ocean sink for CO2 is being reduced. New constraints will be placed on the critical threshold limits of CO2 emissions for sustainable calcification in both shallow tropical and deep-water marine ecosystems of the Southern Oceans.Read moreRead less
Monsoon extremes, environmental shifts, and catastrophic volcanic eruptions: quantifying impacts on the early human history of southern Australasia. The coincidence of a long, diverse Australasian human history with Earth's greatest climate systems presents the Australian and Indonesian communities with unrivalled opportunities for scientific discovery. Our study will improve understanding of global climate change, environmental shifts, volcanic catastrophes, and their role in early human disper ....Monsoon extremes, environmental shifts, and catastrophic volcanic eruptions: quantifying impacts on the early human history of southern Australasia. The coincidence of a long, diverse Australasian human history with Earth's greatest climate systems presents the Australian and Indonesian communities with unrivalled opportunities for scientific discovery. Our study will improve understanding of global climate change, environmental shifts, volcanic catastrophes, and their role in early human dispersal, and extinction, in Australasia. The significance of the results will extend to the modern world, where human behaviour modifies, and is modified by, climate and environment. Integration of research strengths in Australia and Indonesia will contribute to an improved bilateral relationship in science, education, and training, and engage the public in the excitement of scientific discovery.Read moreRead less
Environmental stress indicators in coral skeletons. Coral reefs are critical for Australia's tourism and fisheries industries, cultural heritage and international conservation responsibilities. The proposed research will test and document two newly identified stress indicators in corals, one of which will allow stress to be documented by visual inspection on living reef flats. Both new techniques will allow documentation of historical records of stress events, thus improving understanding of ree ....Environmental stress indicators in coral skeletons. Coral reefs are critical for Australia's tourism and fisheries industries, cultural heritage and international conservation responsibilities. The proposed research will test and document two newly identified stress indicators in corals, one of which will allow stress to be documented by visual inspection on living reef flats. Both new techniques will allow documentation of historical records of stress events, thus improving understanding of reef dynamics through intervals of climate change, and importantly, they also may help detect 'early warning signs' of poor health in living reef corals. Thus, the research will inform both palaeoclimate studies and current reef management strategies. Read moreRead less
Where will species go? Revolutionising projections of species distributions with climate change. Improving our capacity to predict climate change impacts on biodiversity is a National Research Priority and a priority under the National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan (2004-2007). Our research will revolutionise the field of bioclimatic modelling by enabling the probability of losses/gains in species distributions to be calculated. This will enable policy makers to identify vulnerable ....Where will species go? Revolutionising projections of species distributions with climate change. Improving our capacity to predict climate change impacts on biodiversity is a National Research Priority and a priority under the National Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan (2004-2007). Our research will revolutionise the field of bioclimatic modelling by enabling the probability of losses/gains in species distributions to be calculated. This will enable policy makers to identify vulnerable species and provides a strong framework for prioritizing areas for research and monitoring. Our research will interface two disciplines, earth and biological sciences, and establish a new international collaboration that will ensure Australia is at the forefront of a rapidly developing research field. Read moreRead less
Simulating the evolution of the Southern Ocean and Australia's Palaeo-environment over 40 million years. Our project falls in the first national research priority: an environmentally sustainable Australia and meets two of its primary goals, understanding environmental change and the evolution of biodiversity, and responding to climate change and variability. Our models will represent a major step forward in differentiating between natural processes and anthropological input to present global cli ....Simulating the evolution of the Southern Ocean and Australia's Palaeo-environment over 40 million years. Our project falls in the first national research priority: an environmentally sustainable Australia and meets two of its primary goals, understanding environmental change and the evolution of biodiversity, and responding to climate change and variability. Our models will represent a major step forward in differentiating between natural processes and anthropological input to present global climate change and will address quantitatively how Australia changed from a continent rich in freshwater to the driest inhabited continent throughout the last 40 million years.Read moreRead less
Are humans responsible for recent changes in the behaviour of tropical cyclones? Decoupling natural variability from human influence using isotopes. An increase in the frequency of intense landfalling tropical cyclones will have a major impact upon Australia's economy and the safety of its citizens and visitors. There is little doubt that global climate change will cause this increase. Understanding when this might occur and the extent of this change over and above that which could also occur na ....Are humans responsible for recent changes in the behaviour of tropical cyclones? Decoupling natural variability from human influence using isotopes. An increase in the frequency of intense landfalling tropical cyclones will have a major impact upon Australia's economy and the safety of its citizens and visitors. There is little doubt that global climate change will cause this increase. Understanding when this might occur and the extent of this change over and above that which could also occur naturally will help reduce economic loss and save peoples' lives. Using isotope records of tropical cyclones and global climate models we will differentiate natural from human induced changes and ascertain the likely future impact of this hazard on Australia and its near neighbours.Read moreRead less
Stable water isotopic simulation and analysis to improve Earth System models and deliver better predictions of Australian water resource vulnerability. As Australia's challenges in environmental sustainability rival those anywhere on Earth, we must be clever in our diagnosis of susceptibility and insightful in proposed remedies. Climate change and variability have impacts on people and society that must be managed effectively whatever their causes. Of importance to Australia is the availabilit ....Stable water isotopic simulation and analysis to improve Earth System models and deliver better predictions of Australian water resource vulnerability. As Australia's challenges in environmental sustainability rival those anywhere on Earth, we must be clever in our diagnosis of susceptibility and insightful in proposed remedies. Climate change and variability have impacts on people and society that must be managed effectively whatever their causes. Of importance to Australia is the availability of water for drinking and agriculture. The new, interdisciplinary ARC network for Earth System Science provides models for novel and synergistic research such as naturally occurring water isotopes as a tool for improving predictive skill and confidence. We exploit these and leverage international programs to improve regional hydro-climate and water resource understanding in Australia.Read moreRead less
Winter temperature and salinity profile measurements in the Southern Ocean using elephant seals as ocean sampling platforms. As a result of the paucity of winter data in the Southern Ocean, sophisticated ocean models such as the GFDL MOM are hampered in their ability to properly represent the complex processes in the Antarctic sea ice zone. Elephant seals forage in the Southern Ocean throughout winter, and traverse the water column between 0 and 800 metres many times each day, providing an oppo ....Winter temperature and salinity profile measurements in the Southern Ocean using elephant seals as ocean sampling platforms. As a result of the paucity of winter data in the Southern Ocean, sophisticated ocean models such as the GFDL MOM are hampered in their ability to properly represent the complex processes in the Antarctic sea ice zone. Elephant seals forage in the Southern Ocean throughout winter, and traverse the water column between 0 and 800 metres many times each day, providing an opportunity to collect profiles of temperature and salinity. The resulting data will contribute to oceanographic studies of water mass formation and frontal variability, including comparisons with historical data and assimilation into a complex ocean model.Read moreRead less
Physical, Chemical and Radiative Characteristics of Australian Continental Aerosols. Australian desert dust, and the biomass burning aerosol particles produced in the top-end burning season, have the potential to impose an environmental burden not only on Australia, but also on the surrounding region. While most of the world's major aerosol types have been well studied in recent years, these two remain largely unknown. There are good reasons to believe that Australian aerosols are different from ....Physical, Chemical and Radiative Characteristics of Australian Continental Aerosols. Australian desert dust, and the biomass burning aerosol particles produced in the top-end burning season, have the potential to impose an environmental burden not only on Australia, but also on the surrounding region. While most of the world's major aerosol types have been well studied in recent years, these two remain largely unknown. There are good reasons to believe that Australian aerosols are different from many others. We therefore intend to fully characterize their relevant properties, so we may monitor them from space, and evaluate their environmental impacts.Read moreRead less