Water & Atmosphere 3, November 2011

Editorial: Coming, ready or not

It took just under a month for 2011 to make the weather records, when, on 29 January, Cyclone Wilma brushed the North Island's east coast. Wilma drenched some regions with 400 per cent of their normal January rainfall, leaving a $24m cleanup bill behind.

Solutions: HIRDS – The future of design

When designing infrastructure, such as a new bridge, to last well into this century, engineers must think worst-case scenario: specifications demand a structure so durable as to withstand the worst Nature might be expected to throw at it.

In brief: Birds of a feather don’t always flock together

They might be the same species, but two discrete populations of Cooks petrels – one from Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, and the other more than 2000km away on Whenua Hou, or Codfish Island – keep their distance genetically.

In brief: Finding faults - NIWA probes Pegasus Bay

A preliminary seismic survey of the seabed off the north Canterbury coast has found a complex arrangement of geologic faults in the bedrock under Pegasus Bay.

In brief: Snapper that stay home, stay safe

Creating marine reserves may affect the behaviour of some fish that live in them, a NIWA study has found.

In brief: Life - the next chapter

Dive beneath the Poor Knights Islands – or just kick over some leaf litter in the bush – and you'll be astounded at just what lives there. We share New Zealand – and its surrounding seas – with about 55,000 other species, and Dennis Gordon wants to name and describe every last one of them.

In brief: New Zealand’s new low

While poring through old temperature records, climate scientists recently discovered New Zealand's coldest known daily minimum reading – a shivering minus 25.6ºC (originally recorded in the old Fahrenheit scale as minus 14ºF).

The winds of change

Much of our electricity now comes from rain and wind, but, asks Greta Shirley, can they keep the lights on in a changing climate?

Cover story: Seasonal adjustment

Out in all weathers, farmers are the first to notice a change. By Dave Hansford.

Upping the ante

Climate change will test the infrastructure of the future. We need to start planning now, finds Harriet Palmer, for higher tides and heavier downpours.

Portfolio: NIWA photo competition winners 2011

NIWA researchers document their work in some of the country's most spectacular reaches.

You go first...the psychology of climate change

Psychology may yet be the most potent foil to climate change, finds Harriet Palmer.

Ātahirā – a new challenge for Māori

Māori survived landfall in this cold, harsh place to settle and thrive in it – a triumph of adaptation. Now Nature places another challenge in their path, writes Dave Hansford.

Q&A: How do we model the climate?

How do we model the climate?

NIWA