2010 is the third wettest year on record, and the coolest year since 2001 according to the 2010 Australian Climate Statement from SEARCH project partner organisation The Bureau of Meteorology. The BOM report shows that the La Niña event that is currently in effect has brought heavy rain, which has eased drought and caused recent … Continue reading BOM releases Annual Australian Climate Statement
Category: News
SEARCH PhD student awarded NLA Summer Scholarship
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
Volunteers dig up tales of wild weather and insect plagues
With south-eastern Australia in the midst of wet La Niña conditions and Victoria suffering locust plagues, a team of SEARCH project volunteers has discovered early settlers battled many of the same extremes. This heavy rainfall has created perfect conditions for insects such as the locusts that are currently swarming in south-eastern Australia. Australia's early settlers … Continue reading Volunteers dig up tales of wild weather and insect plagues
Old Weather project online and in the news
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
Positive review for environmental history book
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
First Fleet weather research in the news
Research into the treacherous weather conditions the First Fleet battled on the epic voyage to Australia has attracted a wealth of media attention this week. SEARCH lead researcher Joelle Gergis spoke with a range of media about the First Fleet weather reconstruction she prepared with Rob Allan and Philip Brohan of the UK Met Office: … Continue reading First Fleet weather research in the news
State Library of Victoria profiles Climate History project
The SEARCH project has been featured in The State Library of Victoria's News magazine for July - October. Project PhD candidate Claire Fenby details some of the valuable historical documentary resources she has been making use of during her research at the State Library of Victoria. A copy of her article is available for download … Continue reading State Library of Victoria profiles Climate History project
SEARCH volunteers unearth vital climate data
A team of volunteers at the State Library of New South Wales has been hard at work sourcing valuable information about climate conditions in the early years of the colony at Sydney. The volunteers have been examining editions of Australia's first newspaper, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, looking for information about weather … Continue reading SEARCH volunteers unearth vital climate data
Scientists seek lost pieces of the climate puzzle
International climate scientists, including members of the SEARCH team, will meet in New Zealand next week as part of an immense global effort to recover lost weather data from the past. The Asian-Pacific Network (APN) for Global Change Research workshop in Auckland on September 27–29 will discuss the latest research using recovered weather information, often … Continue reading Scientists seek lost pieces of the climate puzzle
The hunt for Shackleton’s weather logbooks
An ongoing search for the logbooks of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton has unearthed some interesting information about the early years of weather observation on Macquarie Island. SEARCH research partner, Neville Nicholls of Monash University, was searching the Bureau of Meteorology archive for the Shackleton logbooks when he discovered a series of correspondence and a photo … Continue reading The hunt for Shackleton’s weather logbooks
Climate History Australia 