Few people realise that snow was once a common occurrence for southern Australia’s climate. Historical records help document impacts of past weather extremes such as heatwaves, floods, droughts and even snow. Now scientists are using these fascinating resources to uncover more about Australia’s climate history and also shed light on modern severe weather events...
Very little is known about the past climate of Perth, Western Australia, during the 19th century. Our team recently pieced together the oldest daily weather observations from south-western Australia spanning 1830–1875. There’s a strong case for increasing 19th century climate data rescue efforts in the south-western region of Australia, due to the vulnerability of this … Continue reading What was Perth’s climate like from 1830 to 1875?
There’s an immense amount of value that citizen scientists can bring to the field of climate science. Historical observations provide researchers with a baseline for evaluating recently observed extremes. However there are missing gaps in historical weather data, some of which are able to be filled by old weather journals that are yet to be … Continue reading Become a citizen scientist and help climate research
Climate History Australia has launched a new citizen science project to fill a gap in the daily data available for the Adelaide region between 1848 and 1856...
In the year 1843, the ‘Great March Comet’ with its extremely long tail was splendidly visible from even the daytime skies of the Southern Hemisphere. However in Adelaide, South Australia, there was another reason to look skyward for what in modern times might seem like an unlikely group – the Royal Engineers. ...
The year 2019 was Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. These two factors combined to create the worst bushfire and drought conditions since the Bureau of Meteorology's daily weather observations began in 1910. After the record-shattering year that the country has just experienced, our team attended the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society annual meeting and international conference in Fremantle, WA, in February this year. ...
Extreme weather events linked to El Nino Southern Oscillation played a hand in shaping the culture of modern Australia according to a new book chapter by climate historian Don Garden. The chapter examines the social, political and cultural significance of The Federation Drought, which has been linked to a series of strong El Nino events. … Continue reading El Nino influenced Australian identity
SEARCH project PhD student Claire Fenby has been awarded a National Library of Australia Summer Scholarship for 2011. Claire is the recipient of the annual Norman McCann scholarship, awarded for research into Australian History. She will be based at the NLA from 4 January to 12 February 2011 to conduct a cross-regional study of south-eastern … Continue reading SEARCH PhD student awarded NLA Summer Scholarship
A groundbreaking citizen science project, led by SEARCH project partners the UK Met Office, has attracted thousands of volunteers and made international headlines. Old Weather is an online volunteer project aiming to digitise ship logs from WWI Royal Navy vessels, in order to gain a clearer picture of worldwide weather events at the time. The … Continue reading Old Weather project online and in the news
An environmental history book by SEARCH Project historian Don Garden has received a great review in the latest issue of New Zealand Geographer. Tom Brooking from the University of Otago's Department of History provides a positive assessment of Droughts, Floods and Cyclones: El Niños that shaped our colonial past, praising the author's "impeccable scholarship and … Continue reading Positive review for environmental history book
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