Science Media Centre

2016 was the hottest year in New Zealand in over a century, surpassing the previous warmest year on record, 1998. Niwa released its annual climate summary today, which showed 2016 was the warmest year on record based on the seven-station series which began in 1909. The full annual climate summary is available on Niwa’s website. […]

International scientists have pooled together data from the last 1,200 years on the relationship between water and the climate in the Northern Hemisphere, and say they’ve found some holes in the existing climate models for the twentieth century. The researchers analysed previous studies on rain, drought, tree rings, ice cores and many other indicators, and […]

Earth’s 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest on record, according to independent analyses by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the UK Met Office. Read more about the announcement, and related news coverage, here. The Science Media Centre contacted New Zealand experts for comment on the announcement. Prof Martin Manning, NZ Climate […]

Earth’s 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.13 Celsius. The warming effects of the current El Niño climate pattern contributed to the […]

2015 was a dry, sunny year for New Zealand, but no hotter than average overall, according to NIWA’s annual climate summary. You can access the full annual climate summary here. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology also released its 2015 climate summary last week, which showed that 2015 was the fifth warmest year on record for Australia. […]

An unpublished study examining solar cycles has created a flare-up of headlines claiming we are headed for a ‘mini-ice age’, but does the research stack up? The study presented at the UK National Astronomy Meeting this month outlined a new model of solar activity which was based on two separate internal cycles in the sun […]

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has declared the Pacific is in an El Niño climate pattern – but some New Zealand scientists are not ready to back the claim. The Bureau made the declaration yesterday following close analysis of ocean temperature shifts and wind patterns. The El Niño conditions typically bring warmer ocean waters in […]

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed the Pacific is in an El Niño climate pattern – what does this mean for New Zealand? The Bureau made the declaration yesterday following close analysis of ocean temperature shifts and wind patterns. The El Niño conditions typically bring warmer ocean waters in the tropics, and weaker wind […]

In the pages of the Dominion Post, New Zealand climate scientists David Wratt, James Renwick and Andy Reisinger  respond to a previous opinion article questioning the science of anthropogenic climate change and the need for action. An excerpt (read in full here): Human role in climate change is clear Warming of the climate system is […]

2015 has got off to a very dry start and increasingly drought-like conditions could have a substantial impact on farmers in the coming weeks. Soil moisture measurements in both the North and South Islands are lower than average for this time of year, with irrigation restrictions already in place in parts of Canterbury and North […]