On 1 July 2025, NIWA merged with GNS Science to become Earth Sciences New Zealand.

Hazards

NIWA researchers study geological, weather and coastal hazards, including the impact of climate change on some of these.

  • Figure 1(b): Analysis using the uncertain hazard assessment creates a further cascade, leading to uncertainty in the impact assessment and causing issues in decision making.

    Explainer: Uncertainties in flood risk assessments

    Research Project
    University of Canterbury’s Professor Matthew Wilson, one of the Mā te haumaru ō te wai research team, gives us some insight on uncertainty.
  • 2022 off to a searing start

    Media release
    New Zealand’s weather is proving no exception to the record-breaking extremes occurring around the globe.
  • Seen a stunning sunrise or sunset lately? The Tongan volcano may be the cause

    Media release
    The Tongan volcanic eruption may be responsible for New Zealand’s unusually vibrant sunrises and sunsets, say NIWA scientists.
  • A Hard Rain’s A’Gonna Fall

    Feature story
    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.
  • Tracking an eruption

    Feature story
    Stacy Mohan looks at how the shockwaves from a remote Tongan island rippled through NIWA’s research community.
  • Tonga eruption discoveries defy expectations

    Media release
    New findings from the record-breaking Tongan volcanic eruption are “surprising and unexpected."
  • Hotspot Watch 13 May 2022

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent.
  • The instruments at work - In the volcano's wake

    Our team onboard RV Tangaroa are equipped with all the tech and tools they need to explore the undersea changes caused by the devastating volcanic eruption in Tonga earlier this year.
  • Hotspot Watch 29 April 2022

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing significant soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • Hotspot Watch 22 April 2022

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture patterns across the country to show where dry to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing significant soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • Mapping the Tongan eruption

    The January eruption of the Tongan volcano Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai triggered tsunamis as far away as the Caribbean. NIWA scientists are onboard RV Tangaroa surveying the ocean around the volcano, working to understand the largest eruption of its kind since 1981 so they can help increase our knowledge about similar volcanoes around the world.
  • Voyage update - 17 April

    Samples are collected to understand how the seafloor geology, biogeochemistry and ecosystem health has been affected by the volcanic eruption.