Climate & Weather

Understanding our variable and changing climate is critical for managing resources and reducing risks.

  • Covering Climate Now

    Media release
    Expect to hear a lot more about climate change in the news in the weeks ahead – and a lot about NIWA’s work underpinning the science that is signalling a warmer world right now and its effects in the future.
  • How do clouds modify the response of mountain glaciers to climate change?

    Research Project
    While we know that glaciers are sensitive to changes in their local climate, our understanding of exactly how mountain glaciers will respond to climate change is incomplete.
  • Adaptive futures: a serious game for climate change adaptation

    Research Project
    NIWA is using serious games to look at problems holistically, support understanding and give a framework for climate change adaptation decision-making.
  • Rare weather phenomenon possible

    Media release
    NIWA meteorologists are keeping an eye on an unusual atmospheric phenomenon that is amassing in the polar stratosphere.
  • New reports highlight flood risk under climate change

    Media release
    Two reports released today by NIWA and the Deep South National Science Challenge reveal new information about how many New Zealanders, how many buildings and how much infrastructure could be affected by extreme river and coastal flooding from storms and sea-level rise.
  • Snow and Ice Network

    Research Project
    NIWA has established a network of high elevation electronic weather stations to provide a solid basis to understand seasonal patterns and long-term changes to seasonal snow and ice in alpine regions of New Zealand.
  • Daily CO2 measurements from NIWA’s atmospheric monitoring station at Baring Head

    Service
    Daily CO2 measurements from NIWA’s atmospheric monitoring station at Baring Head.
  • 2019 so far - a story of weather and climate extremes

    Media release
    We’re now halfway through 2019 and NIWA climate data from the first six months tell a dramatic story of weather and climate extremes.
  • It only gets brighter from tomorrow!

    Media release
    We’re here already – the shortest day is tomorrow (Saturday) and after this, it gets progressively lighter out to the longest day of the year in December.
  • Ambitious NIWA-led Antarctic Ocean project gets go-ahead

    Media release
    Understanding how the Antarctic oceans work is vital to predicting the world’s future climate and the implications of climate change for humankind and the planet.
  • Time for bold actions guided by science

    Feature story
    New Zealanders are fast becoming aware that our changing climate matters a great deal. NIWA Chief Executive John Morgan explains.
  • Our changing oceans

    Feature story
    The on-going rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) that is fuelling climate change is also driving significant changes in the waters off our coasts.