Assessing clouds and rainfall in Australia's community climate model - Towards an improved simulation of Australia's water resources. Climate change is likely to significantly affect Australia's water resources. A well-measured response to this challenge requires reliable projections of future climate using modern Earth System Models. By thoroughly evaluating Australia's community climate model this research will inform Australia's adaptation policy and through subsequent model development it wi ....Assessing clouds and rainfall in Australia's community climate model - Towards an improved simulation of Australia's water resources. Climate change is likely to significantly affect Australia's water resources. A well-measured response to this challenge requires reliable projections of future climate using modern Earth System Models. By thoroughly evaluating Australia's community climate model this research will inform Australia's adaptation policy and through subsequent model development it will contribute to significant improvements in our ability to understand and predict climate change. Through better informing water resource management the research constitutes an important contribution to an environmentally sustainable Australia. Read moreRead less
Exposure dating with manganese-53, neon-21 and beryllium-10: a new toolkit for studying long-term landscape evolution. Australia today is the driest inhabited continent but this was not always the case. Tens of millions of years ago the climate of Australia was considerably wetter. Then, several million years ago, aridity in Australia developed producing most of the desert features of the red Centre that we see today. The age of our deserts and other arid features are not, however, well known. T ....Exposure dating with manganese-53, neon-21 and beryllium-10: a new toolkit for studying long-term landscape evolution. Australia today is the driest inhabited continent but this was not always the case. Tens of millions of years ago the climate of Australia was considerably wetter. Then, several million years ago, aridity in Australia developed producing most of the desert features of the red Centre that we see today. The age of our deserts and other arid features are not, however, well known. This project will determine the age of desertification in Australia, thereby enhancing our understanding of such processes and the response of our landscape to changing climate.
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A Laboratory Study of Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling in the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave. A laboratory model of the southern hemisphere mid-latitude ocean-atmosphere system will be used to investigate the dynamics of ocean-atmosphere coupling contributing to the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW). The ACW is a recently discovered multi-year climate oscillation which has considerable effect on Australian and New Zealand precipitation. This will be the first laboratory model to include global scale ocean-a ....A Laboratory Study of Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling in the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave. A laboratory model of the southern hemisphere mid-latitude ocean-atmosphere system will be used to investigate the dynamics of ocean-atmosphere coupling contributing to the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave (ACW). The ACW is a recently discovered multi-year climate oscillation which has considerable effect on Australian and New Zealand precipitation. This will be the first laboratory model to include global scale ocean-atmosphere processes, and will be used to test proposed mechanisms for the driving of the climate oscillation that is attributed to the ACW. The project will provide knowledge required for improved computational modelling and climate predictions.
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Causes of Enhanced Warming of the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is critical to the global climate system in general, and Australian climate in particular. However, the Southern Ocean is poorly understood, poorly observed and poorly modelled by global climate models. The response of the Southern Ocean to increases in wind forcing (due to the ozone hole and global warming) will be examined. Climate impacts such as Australian rainfall trends, potential instability of the West Antarctic Ice She ....Causes of Enhanced Warming of the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is critical to the global climate system in general, and Australian climate in particular. However, the Southern Ocean is poorly understood, poorly observed and poorly modelled by global climate models. The response of the Southern Ocean to increases in wind forcing (due to the ozone hole and global warming) will be examined. Climate impacts such as Australian rainfall trends, potential instability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and changes to the global overturning circulation will be quantified. Understanding these impacts will help to manage Australia's water resources and to predict the future Southern Ocean circulation.Read moreRead less
Sensitivity and Change in the Global Ocean Overturning. The dynamics of the global, deep overturning circulation in the oceans and the way this adjusts to increasing greenhouse forcing will be examined in order to improve our conceptual knowledge of the oceans and the accuracy of climate models. By understanding how the ocean responds to changing surface heat and freshwater fluxes, and particularly the global role of rapid changes in high-latitude seas, we aim to help refine estimates of climate ....Sensitivity and Change in the Global Ocean Overturning. The dynamics of the global, deep overturning circulation in the oceans and the way this adjusts to increasing greenhouse forcing will be examined in order to improve our conceptual knowledge of the oceans and the accuracy of climate models. By understanding how the ocean responds to changing surface heat and freshwater fluxes, and particularly the global role of rapid changes in high-latitude seas, we aim to help refine estimates of climate response times and the warming expected for a given increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases. These two important characteristics of the climate system underlie climate change policy decisions.Read moreRead less
Nonhydrostatic waves and instabilities in rotating fluids. This project addresses a fundamental gap in our understanding of the ocean circulation. The benefits of the program will be to improve the way we model and predict the ocean circulation and the response of the ocean to climate change. The project will thereby assist National Research Priorities on global change and link with a major new ANU Marine Science Strategic Initiative.
From The Ocean Depths To Abrupt Climate Change - Missing Processes In The Global Overturning Circulation. The overturning circulation of the oceans is a driver of large and surprisingly abrupt climate shifts. We aim to understand the factors that control the rate of overturning, and whether it might soon slow down or cease owing to global warming. We also aim to resolve one of the biggest conundrums in oceanography by reconciling theoretical and measured rates of mixing in the deep ocean. Improv ....From The Ocean Depths To Abrupt Climate Change - Missing Processes In The Global Overturning Circulation. The overturning circulation of the oceans is a driver of large and surprisingly abrupt climate shifts. We aim to understand the factors that control the rate of overturning, and whether it might soon slow down or cease owing to global warming. We also aim to resolve one of the biggest conundrums in oceanography by reconciling theoretical and measured rates of mixing in the deep ocean. Improved knowledge of deep ocean dynamics, particularly in the Southern Ocean, will help us gauge the likely nature and pace of imminent climate changes in the Australian region, an essential step in assessing the impacts on water resources, ecosystems, agriculture, and energy demands. The research will add to a major new initiative in marine science at ANU.Read moreRead less
Mixing and dissipation in the ocean: Processes for the next generation of climate models. The circulation of the oceans is a crucial factor in governing the variability and long-term change in the earth's climate. A major weakness in current ocean and climate models is a lack of knowledge of energy flow within the ocean. This project will examine the nature and role of eddy interactions with the ocean boundaries, which is a critical question for future development of more accurate high-resolutio ....Mixing and dissipation in the ocean: Processes for the next generation of climate models. The circulation of the oceans is a crucial factor in governing the variability and long-term change in the earth's climate. A major weakness in current ocean and climate models is a lack of knowledge of energy flow within the ocean. This project will examine the nature and role of eddy interactions with the ocean boundaries, which is a critical question for future development of more accurate high-resolution ocean models and improved climate predictions.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
Multi-proxy fingerprinting, absolute dating, and large-scale modelling of Quaternary climate-volcano-environment impacts in southern Australasia. The discovery of Homo floresiensis (the Hobbit) revealed the surprising diversity of early humans and opened new ways for Australians and Indonesians to make tremendous scientific advances. Deployment of world-best analytical capabilities to untapped speleothem resources in Indonesia will put us at the forefront in understanding global climate change, ....Multi-proxy fingerprinting, absolute dating, and large-scale modelling of Quaternary climate-volcano-environment impacts in southern Australasia. The discovery of Homo floresiensis (the Hobbit) revealed the surprising diversity of early humans and opened new ways for Australians and Indonesians to make tremendous scientific advances. Deployment of world-best analytical capabilities to untapped speleothem resources in Indonesia will put us at the forefront in understanding global climate change, volcanic catastrophes, and environmental impacts on deep-time cultures shared by our nations. Our findings will extend to the modern world, where humans modify climates and landscapes at unprecedented rates. Integration of Australian and Indonesian research strengths will showcase bilateral science, education, and training, and engage the public in the excitement of scientific discovery.Read moreRead less