Climate change

CarbonWatch NZ is an internationally-recognised research programme that will enable New Zealand to make the right decisions for a zero carbon future.

Detecting and quantifying methane emissions by satellite

Decisions about how we adapt to sea-level rise need to be based on information about our exposure to coastal flooding.

NIWA researchers are developing a physics-informed and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven method to vastly reduce the computer power needed to provide accurate climate change projections.

The development of updated national climate projections for Aotearoa New Zealand was completed in 2024.

The My Coastal Futures game was developed to help people understand climate change impacts and start thinking about how they might adapt.

This five-year NIWA-led research programme is developing a system to map flood hazard consistently across the whole country. It will reveal how our flood risk might change over the next 100 years because of changes to rainfall and sea level from climate change, as well as due to land-use changes.

NIWA's long-running 'seven-station' series shows NZ's average annual temperature has increased by about 1°C over the past 100 years.

Climate Observations is a core-funded project under our Future Climate Flagship Programme.  Our work explores recent instrumental data, historical observations and natural archives to track variability and changes in climate.

Regional-scale climate projections assist local authorities to assess climate risks and help communities prepare for impacts.

Future Coasts Aotearoa is empowering communities to confront climate change with practical and interactive tools designed to inspire meaningful science-based conversations around adaptation. 

With sea levels expected to rise in New Zealand, the Future Coasts Aotearoa programme is researching how rising seas could raise groundwater levels and affect lowland farming.