Climate change

Coastal waters around Aotearoa New Zealand became unusually warm last month, say NIWA.

A group of international scientists are visiting some of New Zealand’s most significant coastal wetlands as part of a five-year research project to help the country adapt and prepare for sea-level rise.

Terms and conditions for NIWA serious games.

New Zealand’s weather is proving no exception to the record-breaking extremes occurring around the globe.

Climate change means more intense storm systems are on their way. Science can’t stop it raining, but it can help communities prepare for the worst and plan for the future.

Once upon a time, long ago, massive glaciers covered our landscape. As they retreat, they leave piles of sediment and rocks behind called moraines that tell an important story of New Zealand's climate history.

Researchers are studying the moraines around Lake Tennyson to work out why and when the glaciers disappeared.

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?