Climate change

An international team of climate scientists is working in North Canterbury to try to understand the reasons why giant glaciers disappeared thousands of years ago.

The annual end-of-summer snowline survey of more than 50 South Island glaciers has revealed continued loss of snow and ice. Last week, scientists from NIWA, Victoria University of Wellington, and Department of Conservation took thousands of aerial photographs of glaciers. Some of them are used to build 3D models that track ice volume changes.

New research from the Deep South Challenge: Changing with our Climate and NIWA shows that New Zealand could experience very long and “very severe” marine heatwaves by the end of the century.

NIWA is asking people in flood-affected areas to contribute photos to a national database to support understanding of flood hazard and flood risk.

NIWA is developing a national river flow forecasting tool for New Zealand that aims to support and strengthen our planning for and response to extreme rainfall events.

Stories of tremendous forest fires, huge storm events, and suffocating heatwaves have dominated headlines over the past few years. We instinctively feel that our weather is getting wilder. Are we finally living through those climate change warnings we’ve heeded for decades?

A marine heatwave is happening all around New Zealand. Warmer waters are more pleasant for swimming in and can create wilder weather. But what do they mean for fishing? Let’s dive into the science behind getting a good catch.

This Wednesday 22nd December, the sun reaches its highest position in the sky. It will be the Southern Hemisphere’s longest day of the year. Also known as the summer solstice, it marks the start of astronomical summer. But hang on, didn’t summer already begin? 

Coastal sea temperatures around Aotearoa New Zealand have risen well above average, NIWA forecasters say.

Almost half of Aotearoa New Zealand’s CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. This is a much higher proportion than most other countries – globally, agricultural emissions average around 7.5% of a country’s total emissions.

New NIWA-led research shows increasing flood risk is going to be what leads people to make changes to adapt to sea-level rise.

Aotearoa New Zealand has just experienced its warmest winter on record – well exceeding the previous record which was set just last year.