Weather, climate and extreme events in Tasmania - what can we expect?

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Authors          Paul Fox-Hughes
Andrew Lenton
Stuart Corney

Summary of Answer

Dr Stuart Corney (University of Tasmania, Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies) provides insights on the topic of ‘Weather, climate and extreme events in Tasmania - what can we expect?’.

This footage was shot at live public forums for the Curious Climate Tasmania project held across Tasmania in August 2019 as part of Australian National Science Week. Curious Climate was initiated by a group of scientists & journalists that wanted to know what the Tasmanian public were curious about in terms of climate change. This series of presentations cover the most popular questions submitted by the Tasmanian public, in response to a call out for questions from ABC Radio, and aim to bridge the gap between experts and audiences with credible, relevant information about climate change.

This project was delivered in partnership with the Centre for Marine Socioecology, ABC Radio Hobart, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, CSIRO, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. Funding was provided by National Science Week and the Tasmanian Government, through the Tasmanian Climate Change Office.

Watch the Video

About the Authors

Paul Fox-Hughes

Affiliations:

Bureau of Meteorology

Research Area:

Research Area: Paul Fox-Hughes is seconded into Research and Development Branch, from the Bureau's Tasmanian Regional Office, working on a number of largely fire-related projects. His primary responsibility is as Science Lead on the externally-funded Fire Predictive Services project. New South Wales Rural Fire Service and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Council have contracted the Bureau to evaluate the performance of fire spread simulators in Australia. The Fire Predictive Services team are validating the performance of the several simulators and versions of simulators against a set of case studies from around Australia for which there is adequate fire behaviour data available. Paul is also involved in the Bureau Regional Reanalysis, particularly liaising with potential collaborators in funding and applying the reanalysis.

Why I do the research I do:

Why I do it: ?

Andrew Lenton

Affiliations:

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Centre for Southern Hemisphere Ocean Research & Australian Antarctic Partnership Program, Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Research Area:

Research Area: (i)quantifying the past, present and future role of the ocean in the global carbon cycle; (ii) exploring and understanding the impact of the carbon cycle and biogeochemical changes on both climate and marine diversity and productivity; and (iii) the potential role of geoengineering in mitigating climate change and ocean acidification.

Why I do the research I do:

Why I do it:

Stuart Corney

Affiliations:

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Research Area:

Research Area: Impacts of climate change on Tasmania and exploring the impacts of change on Antarctic and Southern Ocean marine ecosystems. Untangling the interplay between the projected physical changes that anthropogenic climate change is likely to bring and how these changes will flow through to affect people and marine ecosystems.

Why I do the research I do:

Why I do it: Basically I love to figure out what is going on around me. My research career started in quantum physics and trying to understand the basic nature of the universe. These days the focus of my work is less obscure, but the desire to understand what is driving the system of study is the same. We are conducting a massive, global experiment that is reshaping our climate and pushing it to a place it has not been for a million years, at a much faster rate than at any time in the history of the Earth. What is the outcome of this experiment for our environment and, just as importantly, for the people, animals and ecosystems that are caught up in it? I want to know, and preferably know while we still have a chance to alter the outcome.

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