Providing the ocean and atmospheric science needed for a sustainable, healthy, and well-prepared Australia as part of a global effort focused on climate, energy and air quality interactions, and climate, carbon and water feedbacks.
Here we address some of the common questions raised about the changing climate and the science involved in studying it.
Climate change refers to any long-term trends or shifts in climate over many decades.
There is a great deal of evidence that the Earth's climate has warmed over the past century.
Sea levels can change for a variety of reasons over a range of different time scales.
The Earth's future climate will depend on whether the world manages to slow or even reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but warming is likely to continue.
Increases in extreme climate events will pose challenges for Australia in the future.
A distinction needs to be made between science that is robust and science that is relatively uncertain. All conclusions should be based on peer-reviewed literature.
Peer-reviewed papers provide a reliable and quality-assured source of information on climate change science.