The puzzle of landfast sea ice: ‘Fast’ ice and near-term climate impacts. Sea ice which is held motionless against the Antarctic coastline (so-called landfast, or 'fast' ice) is hugely important for global climate and Southern Ocean ecosystems but its extent has recently plummeted. This project will address major knowledge gaps by providing novel satellite-based mapping and analysis of fast ice extent, towards enabling incorporation of fast ice into Australia’s new sea ice-ocean Earth system mod ....The puzzle of landfast sea ice: ‘Fast’ ice and near-term climate impacts. Sea ice which is held motionless against the Antarctic coastline (so-called landfast, or 'fast' ice) is hugely important for global climate and Southern Ocean ecosystems but its extent has recently plummeted. This project will address major knowledge gaps by providing novel satellite-based mapping and analysis of fast ice extent, towards enabling incorporation of fast ice into Australia’s new sea ice-ocean Earth system model for the first time – to allow assessment of its impacts on global ocean circulation and ice shelf melt. Outcomes also include new automated capability for monitoring fast ice extent, analysis of its variability and drivers, and first maps of its thickness and roughness.Read moreRead less
Southern Ocean oxygen variability since the last glacial maximum. Recently observed decreases in ocean oxygen concentration could decrease ocean biodiversity and accelerate climate change. This project will determine the links between climate change and ocean oxygenation since the last ice age, and provide a way to predict future oxygen concentrations.
Using past climate extremes to guide infrastructure planning for the future. This project aims to analyse a 2000-year palaeoclimate record of single event and complex climate extremes to provide a long-term context for observed changes in climate extremes over recent decades. This project expects to generate new knowledge about long-term variability in the frequency and magnitude of climate extremes that occur on seasonal - decades time-scales. It also expects to provide information about com ....Using past climate extremes to guide infrastructure planning for the future. This project aims to analyse a 2000-year palaeoclimate record of single event and complex climate extremes to provide a long-term context for observed changes in climate extremes over recent decades. This project expects to generate new knowledge about long-term variability in the frequency and magnitude of climate extremes that occur on seasonal - decades time-scales. It also expects to provide information about complex extremes that involve multiple types of impacts (e.g. drought followed by flood, simultaneous drought and fire). Expected benefits of the project include improved understanding of climate extremes and improved risk estimates for the impacts of climate extremes on Australian government and industry infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Urban greening to protect vulnerable people and promote thermal equity. This project aims to create, test and apply new knowledge to promote thermal equity in Australian cities. Climate change is increasing heatwave frequency and intensity as our cities are becoming denser and their populations growing older. Many older people have heightened vulnerability to extreme heat due to income constraints, medical conditions, physical frailty, and reduced mobility. Outputs will include a heat vulnerabil ....Urban greening to protect vulnerable people and promote thermal equity. This project aims to create, test and apply new knowledge to promote thermal equity in Australian cities. Climate change is increasing heatwave frequency and intensity as our cities are becoming denser and their populations growing older. Many older people have heightened vulnerability to extreme heat due to income constraints, medical conditions, physical frailty, and reduced mobility. Outputs will include a heat vulnerability assessment index for identifying at-risk places and vulnerable people, urban tree canopy maps, urban planning policy guidelines for creating cooler cities, and a toolkit for identifying appropriate green infrastructure treatments. Benefits include avoidance of heat-related deaths and improved liveability in cities.Read moreRead less
The Antarctic Slope Current in a warming climate. Melting Antarctic ice sheets are responsible for 28% of global sea level rise in recent decades, and can contribute more than 1 metre of sea level rise by year 2100, and a staggering 15 metres by 2500. Increased glacial melt rates are best understood by studying changes in the circulation of water around the Antarctic coastline. The combination of physical processes that must be resolved in this region places a high demand on ocean observations a ....The Antarctic Slope Current in a warming climate. Melting Antarctic ice sheets are responsible for 28% of global sea level rise in recent decades, and can contribute more than 1 metre of sea level rise by year 2100, and a staggering 15 metres by 2500. Increased glacial melt rates are best understood by studying changes in the circulation of water around the Antarctic coastline. The combination of physical processes that must be resolved in this region places a high demand on ocean observations and modelling systems. This project uses a series of high-resolution ocean and ice experiments, cross-validated with observations, to provide a deeper understanding of how waters at the Antarctic margin respond to both anthropogenic and natural climate forcing.Read moreRead less
Drought and death: past, present and future survival limits in the Australian vegetation landscape. Science cannot predict the point at which water stress becomes lethal for plants. This research into plant water transport aims to find a new way to understand whether plant species will die or adapt to a future drier climate.
Bridging the land–sea divide to ensure food security under climate change. This project aims to comprehensively evaluate ocean-based food solutions to meet food security needs under climate change. It will resolve a critical blind spot in current plans that isolate land and sea food systems and neglect their interdependencies. Combining global models and data, it will assess the constraints of ocean-based food solutions by anticipating and accounting for land-sea links including: agricultural ru ....Bridging the land–sea divide to ensure food security under climate change. This project aims to comprehensively evaluate ocean-based food solutions to meet food security needs under climate change. It will resolve a critical blind spot in current plans that isolate land and sea food systems and neglect their interdependencies. Combining global models and data, it will assess the constraints of ocean-based food solutions by anticipating and accounting for land-sea links including: agricultural runoff, shared feed resources for farmed animals, and trade-offs for biodiversity and climate mitigation. It will deliver a major leap in our capacity to undertake holistic ecosystem assessment of future food production pathways. Benefits will include integrated food–biodiversity–climate policies for Australia and the world.Read moreRead less
Improving models of West Antarctic glacial isostatic adjustment through a new surface velocity field. This project seeks to "fix the scales" being used to weigh changes in the Antarctic ice sheet. Present measurements are biased by a failure to accurately account for mass changes beneath the ice and within the Earth itself. This project seeks to use new measurements of the changes in the shape of the Earth to calibrate out that bias.
Smart Grids, Messy Society? An evaluation of the implementation of smart grids in Australia. New information technologies allow utility infrastructures to operate as smart grids, with the promise of multiple economic and environmental benefits. Utility infrastructures are largely unaltered since first installed 100 years ago, and smart grids have the potential to catalyse significant innovation. This project aims to investigate the societal drivers for, and implications of, smart grids and asses ....Smart Grids, Messy Society? An evaluation of the implementation of smart grids in Australia. New information technologies allow utility infrastructures to operate as smart grids, with the promise of multiple economic and environmental benefits. Utility infrastructures are largely unaltered since first installed 100 years ago, and smart grids have the potential to catalyse significant innovation. This project aims to investigate the societal drivers for, and implications of, smart grids and assess how these grid implementations vary from place to place. It will assess the implications of this for theory and practices of innovation and learning. This project also aims to provide new insights into the messy, complex societal reaction to smart grids in Australia; a country at the forefront of smart grid implementation.Read moreRead less
Distribution of ocean heat uptake and its implications for sea level and climate change. Increasing sea levels and ocean temperatures provide critical evidence of long term warming of the climate system. This project will investigate geographical changes in the vertical distribution of heat uptake by the ocean and contribution to sea level changes, including understanding of physical mechanisms and the role of human activity and other natural external and internal factors. The expected outcomes ....Distribution of ocean heat uptake and its implications for sea level and climate change. Increasing sea levels and ocean temperatures provide critical evidence of long term warming of the climate system. This project will investigate geographical changes in the vertical distribution of heat uptake by the ocean and contribution to sea level changes, including understanding of physical mechanisms and the role of human activity and other natural external and internal factors. The expected outcomes will contribute to place more rigorous constraints on the likelihood of future warming and sea level rise projections, and are aligned with scientific deliverables required to address key questions in support of Australia’s climate change policy.Read moreRead less