Untangling the links between El Nino and the changing global climate. Australia is a country of 'drought and flooding rain', and a key factor governing these cycles is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Our project will provide the following benefits to the nation (i) increased understanding of ENSO variability; (ii) increased knowledge of the extremes of ENSO; (iii) insights into what causes ENSO to vary; and (iv) improved ability to forecast ENSO. Understanding ENSO is essential for anti ....Untangling the links between El Nino and the changing global climate. Australia is a country of 'drought and flooding rain', and a key factor governing these cycles is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Our project will provide the following benefits to the nation (i) increased understanding of ENSO variability; (ii) increased knowledge of the extremes of ENSO; (iii) insights into what causes ENSO to vary; and (iv) improved ability to forecast ENSO. Understanding ENSO is essential for anticipating changes in drought and rain in the future. This understanding will help us to adapt Australia's valuable agricultural and farming industries to climate change, and to manage our precious water resources.Read moreRead less
Precise constraints on the timing and nature of late Quaternary glacial-interglacial climatic transitions in the Southwest Pacific region. An accurate understanding of major climatic transitions during the recent geological past is critical to efforts to understand global climate. This project seeks to investigate precisely when the most recent ice ages began and ended in the Southwest Pacific region relative to other regions of the world, by examining chemical and isotopic records contained in ....Precise constraints on the timing and nature of late Quaternary glacial-interglacial climatic transitions in the Southwest Pacific region. An accurate understanding of major climatic transitions during the recent geological past is critical to efforts to understand global climate. This project seeks to investigate precisely when the most recent ice ages began and ended in the Southwest Pacific region relative to other regions of the world, by examining chemical and isotopic records contained in New Zealand cave deposits. Using state-of-the-art analytical technology, precisely dated records of glacier activity and environmental change will be produced.Read moreRead less
SEA LEVELS, SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND EL NINO VARIABILITY DURING WARM INTERGLACIATIONS. Sea levels, sea surface temperatures and the variability of El Niño will be determined for previous warm interglacial periods using well dated, stratigraphically controlled fossil corals preserved in uplifted reefs. Relationships between past changes in sea level and warmer ocean temperatures will provide insights into the response of sea level to global warming. Knowledge of the frequency and amplitude o ....SEA LEVELS, SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES AND EL NINO VARIABILITY DURING WARM INTERGLACIATIONS. Sea levels, sea surface temperatures and the variability of El Niño will be determined for previous warm interglacial periods using well dated, stratigraphically controlled fossil corals preserved in uplifted reefs. Relationships between past changes in sea level and warmer ocean temperatures will provide insights into the response of sea level to global warming. Knowledge of the frequency and amplitude of El Nino events that occurred during previous interglacial warm periods will provide a better understanding of processes controlling extreme events in the climate system.Read moreRead less
Australian dust: its response to, and role in, climate change. Atmospheric dust plumes can affect global climate, but the impact of Australian dust on climate is poorly known even though it is a major dust source. This project will study the magnetism of dust deposits in marine sediments to understand how Australian dust influences climate in order to better predict the influence of humans on future climate.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100180
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
An Australian fluid-inclusion facility for climate-change science. Understanding past temperature and rainfall changes is essential for improving climate projections. The proposed facility will generate new palaeotemperature and palaeorainfall information from cave deposits, leading to a better understanding of natural climate variability and change.
How warm and how wet? New perspectives on paleoclimate records and hydrological regimes in arid zones of Australia. This project will develop a new and precise palaeotemperature record for southern Australia, and will investigate the hydrologic dynamics of inland Australia. Together, this research will lead to new discoveries in the way Australian ecosystems respond to climate variability and will enable better understanding of its impacts.
Deep-sea coral ocean-climate records of the last glacial and recent eras. The project aims to predict the ocean carbon dioxide sink’s long-term capacity and future trajectories of global warming and increasing carbon dioxide. This project will use geochemical proxies encoded in the skeletons of deep-sea corals in the Perth Canyon, Tasman seas, and Antarctica, in the heart of the ocean-climate system, to reveal continuous long-term records of environmental change at annual-decadal resolution for ....Deep-sea coral ocean-climate records of the last glacial and recent eras. The project aims to predict the ocean carbon dioxide sink’s long-term capacity and future trajectories of global warming and increasing carbon dioxide. This project will use geochemical proxies encoded in the skeletons of deep-sea corals in the Perth Canyon, Tasman seas, and Antarctica, in the heart of the ocean-climate system, to reveal continuous long-term records of environmental change at annual-decadal resolution for our recent past (hundreds to thousands of years) and the Last Glacial Maximum. These records are expected to provide a more accurate understanding of Earth’s long-term responses to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and global warming.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
Uncoupling past salinity and temperature signals in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: implications for climate change in the Australian region. The tropical oceans and in particular the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, immediately to Australia's north, play a key role in modulating global and Australian climate through El-Niño and related phenomena. Using a new microanalysis approach to analyse individual foraminifera from deep-sea cores, we will reconstruct past salinity and temperature variability within the ....Uncoupling past salinity and temperature signals in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: implications for climate change in the Australian region. The tropical oceans and in particular the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool, immediately to Australia's north, play a key role in modulating global and Australian climate through El-Niño and related phenomena. Using a new microanalysis approach to analyse individual foraminifera from deep-sea cores, we will reconstruct past salinity and temperature variability within the Warm Pool, and determine changing rainfall patterns and, ENSO and monsoon behaviour under climate conditions that lie outside modern records. This information is vital for understanding past climate and predicting the future intensity and frequency of El-Niño related drought and wet cycles in Australia.Read moreRead less
UPTAKE OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2 IN THE OCEANS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL CHANGE: NEW PROXY DEVELOPMENTS. This project aims to quantify the response of the oceans to increasing atmospheric CO2 from anthropogenic production. This will be achieved by using newly developed paleoceanographic indicators in deep sea sediments, corals and coralline sponges. These will be used to evaluate changes in seawater acidity and the response of the oceans to past variations in atmospheric CO2. The capacity and role o ....UPTAKE OF ATMOSPHERIC CO2 IN THE OCEANS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL CHANGE: NEW PROXY DEVELOPMENTS. This project aims to quantify the response of the oceans to increasing atmospheric CO2 from anthropogenic production. This will be achieved by using newly developed paleoceanographic indicators in deep sea sediments, corals and coralline sponges. These will be used to evaluate changes in seawater acidity and the response of the oceans to past variations in atmospheric CO2. The capacity and role of the oceans to buffer the rise of atmospheric of CO2 will be ascertained. This will provide constraints on the impact of increased seawater acidity on coral reefs such as the Great Barrier Reef.Read moreRead less