Academic research can shed light on crucial questions about what life on Earth will be like under the most plausible emissions scenarios. And a warning: the answers are confronting.
As the planet continues to warm, extreme weather events such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall are becoming more frequent, intense and longer, according to global weather data.
Global warming will increase rainfall in some of the world's driest areas over land, with not only the wet getting wetter but the dry getting wetter as well – a phenomenon that could lead to more flash flooding.
Is climate change to blame for the recent record temperatures? Maybe, but it’s not a simple case of cause and effect, writes Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick.
The NSW desert has been hit by record-breaking rainfall, with the biggest downpour in 45 years recorded at UNSW’s Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station.