Hazards

Cyclone Pam’s furious flight path across the South Pacific in March this year illustrated the danger natural hazards pose to life, livelihoods and infrastructural development in the region.

We are using modern techniques to map seafloor surrounding Kapiti Island, an area of significant cultural and environmental value to New Zealand.

New Zealanders have just experienced one of the driest summers on record – great for beachgoers and cricket lovers, but far from ideal for farmers and orchardists relying on rain to maintain productivity.

An exhibition of work NIWA was involved in titled “Shifting Paradigm: The Village of Sa’Anapu, Samoa” was hosted by the National Museum of Samoa this year and is now available in a striking digital presentation.

A unique pilot project to help Samoa’s largest village better cope with natural disaster is the focus of an upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Samoa timed to coincide with a major United Nations conference in Apia.

New Zealand will get hotter, have more heavy rainfalls, and experience more days when the fire risk is extreme, the latest international report on climate change impacts reveals.

Surveying work carried out by NIWA scientists this week is helping provide new insights into the tsunami risk from undersea landslides in the Kaikoura Canyon.

The Ocean Survey 20/20 (OS 20/20) programme aims to provide NZ with better knowledge of its ocean territory.

These latest infra-red satellite images of ash clouds over New Zealand were created using the NOAA 18 and 19 satellites.