A new research centre is bringing together researchers from across the country to collaborate on a critical challenge for climate change – how it will reshape our weather.
The Monash-led Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather is the first research centre in the world to focus on the science of weather change.
The Centre is critical to unlocking a deeper understanding about the impact that climate change is having on our weather. From the risks that high-impact weather events pose, to the resources our weather provides from renewable energy to agriculture. The scientific knowledge produced will be used to develop strategies to mitigate the risks, and take advantage of the opportunities that weather change will present to people and communities.
The Centre is a collaboration between 24 partner organisations, including University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, Australian National University and University of Tasmania.
Chief Investigator and Associate Professor in Monash’s School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment Ailie Gallant said the centre will transform Australia’s weather and climate research capability by developing ultra-high-resolution climate modelling.
“Our centre will work to reframe the climate change discussion to one of weather change, because this is ultimately where our changing climate has its biggest impact,” she said.
“Historically, the debate has been framed around the statistics of weather, which tends to be about the averages and the extremes.
“But weather is so much more than that, and what we’re interested in is looking at the weather of the future in a lot more detail than has previously been done.”
Research undertaken by climate and weather scientists through the centre will advance our understanding of weather-climate interactions and build the capacity to increase confidence in predictions of weather change for Australia.
While the research will be firmly focused on Australia, its outcomes will have global applications.
The centre’s unique and transformational approaches will provide Australian leadership in the international weather and climate science communities.
Through a firm understanding of the past, present and future of our nation’s weather resources, and with deep industry and government partnerships, it will integrate advances in meteorology, climate science, oceanography, data science, machine learning and high-performance computing.
Associate Professor Gallant said the centre will provide Australian businesses with a competitive advantage and enable governments at all levels to make communities resilient to weather change.
“One of the things we’re really interested in is reframing the view of weather as something that happens to our planet. Rather, we are now thinking about weather as a resource we can harness and use to add value to our lives,” she said.
“For example, we use wind and the sun as resources to generate energy.
“Seeing our weather as a resource will help us to examine the risks to these resources in more targeted ways; but also, to help us maximise weather’s potential to advance and enrich our industries and communities.” .”
The establishment of this centre builds on the work undertaken by previous ARCs, particularly the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science.
The centre was funded by the prestigious Australian Research Council in 2022 and was officially launched with an event at Monash University’s Clayton campus on 16 October 2024.
