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.
Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have risen rapidly during the past two centuries.
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.
As well as rising sea levels, the oceans are getting warmer and more acidic.
A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent and duration of extreme weather and climate events.
Our climate researchers use climate simulations to project future climate decades in advance.
Increases in extreme climate events will pose challenges for Australia in the future.
Scientific research can lead to the development of solutions to help us adapt to climate challenges and to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.
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.