Climate science expertise for local planning and adaptation

Climate Futures bridges the gap between fundamental climate science and the local adaptation needs of industry, government and communities.

What we do

The science of climate change is unequivocal. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the earth is warming and that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases caused by human activity are contributing to our changing climate. Change is a feature of the 21st century global climate. The need to understand the consequences and impacts of climate change on Australia and to enable planning for adaptation and mitigation of climate change at a regional level is widely recognised across industry and government.

Climate Futures’ urban heat mapping research in the news

January 18, 2024

Even in Tasmania’s temperate climate, projections show that extreme heat events will increase under climate change. That’s why it is crucial for Tasmania’s cities to understand and plan for extreme heat and the risk of heat stress for their inhabitants. Climate Futures PhD student Ben Weeding is undertaking research that will help Hobart plan for […]

Climate Futures wins a major Disaster Ready Fund grant

July 13, 2023

The Climate Futures Team has won a major grant from the Australian Government’s Disaster Ready Fund. A Natural Hazards Atlas for Tasmania: mapping natural hazards to build disaster resilience and preparedness is a project led by Dr Kathleen Beyer, the Climate Futures Team’s Director. The project has been awarded $2,247,890. The Natural Hazards Atlas for Tasmanian Communities […]

Glacier ice

UTAS wins #1 for Climate Action

June 1, 2023

The University is ranked 1st in the world – for the second year running – for the specific goal of “Climate Action”. Times Higher Education has announced that the University of Tasmania is ranked 5th in the world for its performance against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The University is ranked 3rd in the world for the “Life below Water” goal […]

Australia’s Wine Future: A Climate Atlas

Australia’s Wine Future

March 2, 2020

Climate Futures has been working closely with Wine Australia to produce a new, comprehensive ‘Climate Atlas’ which lays out climate change-induced effects on Australia’s wine growing regions, and identifies pathways to adaptation. A three-year project with the University of Tasmania brought together an extensive, multi-disciplinary research team to consider the impact of seasonal climate variability […]

Prescribed Burning project, stage 2

February 7, 2020

This project extended previous research to include greater understanding of potential vegetation change and consider the combined effects of extreme climate conditions associated with high fire danger, aspects identified by Tasmanian fire managers as being necessary to help them make decisions about the timing of prescribed burning in the future. The project assessed changes in […]

Prescribed Burning project, stage 1

February 6, 2020

This project built on previous Climate Futures research which suggested that fire danger may increase across much of Tasmania under ongoing climate change, with the fire season starting earlier in the year, and lasting for longer. This trend has important consequences for the ability to manage bushfire risk using prescribed burning, which is currently the […]

Reconstructing seasonal fire danger in southeastern Australia using tree rings

In this study we exploit the drought and temperature sensitivity of various tree-ring chronologies in southeastern Australia to test the potential for reconstructing past fire conditions in the region.

Rapid warming in the Australian Alps from observation and NARCliM simulations

The Australian Alps are the highest mountain range in Australia, which are important for biodiversity, energy generation and winter tourism. Significant increases in temperature in the past decades has had a huge impact on biodiversity and ecosystem in this region.

Impacts of climate change and extreme weather on food supply chains cascade across sectors and regions in Australia.

Disasters resulting from climate change and extreme weather events adversely impact crop and livestock production. While the direct impacts of these events on productivity are generally well known, the indirect supply-chain repercussions (spillovers) are still unclear.

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Changing compound rainfall events in Tasmania.

While extreme weather and climate events have been studied for several decades, analysis of compound events has only begun in recent years. In this burgeoning field there are still many open questions around the optimal methodology and analysis tools for analysis.

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Meet Our Team

Our team includes experts in diverse aspects of climate science and researchers who look at both human, physical and ecosystem impacts of climate change. We have expertise in: atmospheric physics and climate modelling, applied meteorology, physical oceanography, palaeoclimatology, vegetation ecology and fire science, climate adaptation and climate science communication. We also teach climate change at tertiary level and supervise PhD students.

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We acknowledge and pay our deep respects to the traditional custodians of all the unceded lands, skies and waterways on which we live and work and through which we travel.
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