While the climate drivers El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole are fast becoming household names, the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is lesser-known, but can still have a substantial, short-term impacts on southern Australia’s climate. “From late October to late December 2019, a negative SAM contributed to the lack of rainfall over parts […]
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When farmers get together, you can guarantee the conversation will turn to rainfall at some stage. Rain is probably the most important factor in agricultural production, so understanding how particular climate drivers, such as El Niño or the Indian Ocean Dipole, impact on local seasons can help farmers to make more informed decisions to manage […]
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Summer cropping and other farming businesses that rely on summer rainfall have been left pondering the return of once-reliable wet-season storms after several extremely hot and dry monsoon seasons throughout the mid-latitudes. The Cotton Research and Development Corporation, through its participation with the Managing Climate Variability (MCV) program has been instrumental in the design and […]
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Susan Carn has made it her business to understand the climate drivers that impact on her family’s sheep grazing business based around their home at Quorn in the Flinders Ranges. So much so, that for a while she was on the speaking circuit helping other farmers to learn more about this complex challenge.  The family […]
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El Niño is well understood to bring drier conditions to Australia, particularly in the south and east, but new research using coral from the Pacific Ocean has found that not all El Niños are the same. The impact of El Niño events on Australia’s climate can be stronger in some instances, and more frequent and […]
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