The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers

The Earth's climate has changed. The global average surface temperature has increased over the last century and many other associated changes have been observed. The available evidence implies that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause. It is expected that, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at business-as-usual rates, global temperatures will further increase significantly over the coming century and beyond.

Co-authored by Professor Steven Sherwood and Professor Matt England of the Centre, this new Academy of Science report aims to summarise and clarify the current understanding of the science of climate change for non-specialist readers.

Based on a series of key questions, this publication aims to address confusion created by contradictory information in the public domain. It sets out to explain the current situation in climate science, including where there is consensus in the scientific community and where uncertainties exist.

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Latest news

Triple whammy: ocean warming, La Niña, and cyclone produced Queensland floods
17 May 2012
A record La Niña event coupled with tropical cyclone Tasha generated most of the record deluge of rain that devastated much of Queensland in December 2010, but a new study has found that another big culprit was also in play - record high sea-surface temperatures off northern Australia.

Air pollution may be driving expansion of tropics - black carbon and near-surface ozone most likely culprits
17 May 2012
Man-made pollutants are likely to be pushing the boundary of the tropics further polewards in the Northern Hemisphere according to new research by a team of scientists.

1000 years of climate data confirms Australia's warming
17 May 2012
In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the last 1000 years.

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Latest blog entries

John Allen's storm chasing: entry 1
17 May 2012
Is it time to leave yet?

Jackson Tan's Maldives research: entry 10
09 November 2011
And so here I am in the Male International Airport, waiting to board my plane back home. It was a wild ride on the 50-seater from Gan to Male, though I should've expected that from radar and satellite images revealing intense convective activity there over the past few days.

Jackson Tan's Maldives research: entry 9
03 November 2011
The radars deployed here on Gan Island run 24/7 until the end of the DYNAMO field campaign in March next year. Consequently, every day is a working day. This is the nature of fieldwork.

More blogs >>

The Science of Climate Change: Questions and Answers

Co-authored by Professor Steven Sherwood and Professor Matt England, this new Academy of Science report aims to summarise and clarify the current understanding of the science of climate change for non-specialist readers.

How climate scientists develop climate models

When commentators dismiss climate models as “merely models” it means they have failed to grasp how important models of all kinds have become to many parts of our daily life.

Global Warming: Science and the Message

Has science done enough to tell people what climate change actually is? UNSW's Dr Ben Newell on the psychology of global warming.

To live within Earth's limits

A recent report released by the Australian Academy of Science asserts that in order to respond effectively to the many contemporary challenges faced by the Earth’s environment, a new integrated approach to studying Earth System Science is needed.

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