Hazards

Antarctica is experiencing stunning skyscapes like those recently seen in New Zealand, thanks to the afterglow effect from the Tongan volcano.

New Zealand faces a variety of hazards associated with undersea geological activity.

Generally speaking, a drought is defined as a rainfall deficit which restricts or prevents a human activity – for example, farming or power generation.

Heavy rainfall is one of the most frequent and widespread severe weather hazards to affect New Zealand.

NIWA collects wave data, develops and verifies wave forecasting systems, and is developing and producing wave projections.

New Zealand has low-lying coastal areas that are vulnerable to inundation (flooding) by the sea.

Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning great wave in harbour.

This system combines daily sea-level data from NIWA, regional councils, port companies, Antarctica NZ, Bureau of Meteorology and territorial authorities.

Coastal risk exposure for New Zealand, adaptation guidance for local government and relevant summaries of previous court cases and Building Act 2004 determinations.

River floods occur when water spills from a river channel onto land that is normally dry, and are one of New Zealand's costliest natural hazards.