NIWA

Climate change

Climate change effects are accelerating, driving the need for actions informed by sound climate knowledge.

Climate change

NIWA is committed to providing the science needed to adapt to and mitigate climate change. By making informed choices now, we can reduce risks, maximise opportunities, foster climate resilience and work towards a carbon-neutral economy.

“The challenges of reducing our national greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a changing climate are hugely important and affect all New Zealanders. The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill provides the framework for responding to these challenges. NIWA’s role – providing research for evidence-based decision-making and science-based solutions to reduce emissions and adapt to our changing climate – is now more important than ever.”

Dr Andrew Tait, Chief Scientist, Climate, Atmosphere and Hazards

The latest climate change facts you need to know:

Latest news

New tool revolutionising drought forecasts

Media Release
2 October 2023
A newly launched tool developed by NIWA and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to predict dryness and drought will help farmers and growers be better prepared for challenging weather conditions.

Extreme weather research gets a boost

Media Release
21 August 2023
NIWA has launched a $5 million per year package of new projects aiming to tackle some of New Zealand’s most pressing challenges, including responding to and preparing for extreme weather events.

New maps reveal places at risk from sea-level rise

Media Release
25 May 2023
New maps from NIWA and the Deep South National Science Challenge show areas across Aotearoa New Zealand that could be inundated by extreme coastal flooding.

Further ice loss for NZ’s glaciers

Media Release
1 April 2023
NIWA’s annual end-of-summer snowline survey has revealed continued loss of snow and ice for New Zealand’s famous glaciers.
 

Our work

MethaneSAT: detecting and quantifying methane emissions by satellite

MethaneSAT is New Zealand’s first official government-funded satellite mission. The core mission of this unique satellite is to support reductions in methane emissions around the world.

Forecasting impacts from extreme weather

This research project aims to establish connections between weather and river flow forecasting, inundation prediction, and the associated risks to people and assets, using the RiskScape platform.
 

Latest videos

Glacier timelines

Glacier timelines

Our Climate is Changing

Our Climate is Changing

Our climate is changing - we need to act now.

Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa

Mā te haumaru ō nga puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mo ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience across Aotearoa

This five-year NIWA-led research programme is developing a system to map flood hazard consistently across the whole country. It will reveal how our flood risk might change over the next 100 years because of changes to rainfall and sea level from climate change, as well as due to land-use changes. Find out more.

Glacier melt: A Time Capsule

Glacier melt: A Time Capsule

Since 2016 enough ice has melted from the South Island’s Brewster Glacier to meet the drinking water needs of all New Zealanders for three years.

 

Fieldays - farming for the future

Feature story
10 October 2018
Farmers visiting Fieldays at Mystery Creek in June could not have missed the take-home message: that science and innovation are key to their continued success.

Te Huringa ki te Rangi – He Rautaki Tāwariwari. Adapting to climate change – a decision-making model for Indigenous Peoples

Te Huringa ki te Rangi is a decision-making model to support indigenous and coastal communities who are grappling to understand and evaluate climate change impacts and risks, and how to integrate these into their development plans for the future.

Glossary

This page provides definitions for words and terms used frequently in relation to climate change and global climate modelling

Resources

This list of resources will support your climate change adaptation planning.

Step 5: Long-term planning

Adapting to climate change is dynamic and uncertain. This step provides guidance on how you can keep your analysis, decisions and responses relevant and up-to-date in a continually changing environment.

Step 4: What actions should you take?

This step will help you identify options for action, bearing in mind that often decisions have to be made with limited information.

Step 3: How will climate change affect you?

In this step you will identify your climate change risks, compare them to other (non-climate) risks affecting you face and piroritise your responses.

Step 2: How resilient are you to climate risks?

This step helps you assess your resilience to current climate risk.

Step 1: Getting started

This step helps you understand risk, climate and adaptation, as well as reasons to adapt.

Climate Change Adaptation Toolbox

This Toolbox helps you find out about the changing climate, what it might mean for your business, organisation or community and what you can do about it.

Councils get help to prepare for sea-level rise

Media Release
18 July 2018
A senior NIWA scientist is concerned many councils are having difficulty “getting off the starting blocks” when it comes to planning for coastal climate change.
Climate change scenarios through to 2110

Climate change scenarios through to 2110

Features temperature change, increase in hot days, decrease in frost, drought indicator, rainfall patterns through to 2110 under two ICPP scenarios.

Climate change touch screen - Fieldays

Climate change touch screen - Fieldays

The touch screen in action at Fieldays.revealing how our climate will change across the country.

NIWA seaweed scientist tackling global climate change issue

Media Release
21 June 2018
One of the world's leading scientific publishers has named a paper cowritten by a NIWA scientist as one of 250 groundbreaking findings that could "help change the world".

Fieldays weather – the worst is over before it starts

Media Release
11 June 2018
Spare a thought for Fieldays exhibitors putting the final touches to their stands tomorrow – it’s going to be wet.

NIWA urges farmers to prepare for climate change

Media Release
6 June 2018
NIWA is encouraging farmers to plan for climate change so they can maximise their abilities to adapt and thrive as significant change begins to take place.

Well-informed, better prepared

Our scientists provide the knowledge key for evidence-based decision-making and for our society as a whole.
NZ Snowline Survey

NZ Snowline Survey

Silicon power

Feature story
20 April 2018
Massive increases in computing power are allowing NIWA scientists to not only analyse more data, faster, but also to envisage completely new experiments.

Solutions: Regional climate change

Feature story
20 April 2018
As climate change takes hold, regional council planning, sustainability and hazard managers are looking to NIWA for help to understand how their communities will be affected.

NZ snowline shrinks

Feature story
6 April 2018
New Zealand’s glaciers have all retreated and lost volume since NIWA started surveying them in 1977.

Scientists measure glaciers after record-beating summer

Media Release
8 March 2018
Climate scientists and glaciologists are taking to the skies this week to find out how New Zealand’s glaciers are faring following this summer’s record-breaking warmth.

Swamp kauri providing a window to the past for scientists

Media Release
26 February 2018
Ancient swamp kauri is being used by NIWA scientists to reveal the secrets of past climates.

Five more days from the official hottest summer on record

Media Release
23 February 2018
Despite a sub-tropical storm and two ex-tropical cyclones, this summer is about to become the hottest in history.

Blog: atmospheric gas measurements - 21 February

21 February 2018

John McGregor from NIWA checks on the instruments that measure atmospheric gases throughout our voyage.

Pages

 
 

All staff working on this subject

Dr Doug Booker

Hydro-ecological Modeller
Email Dr Doug Booker
placeholder image

Dr Tom Brough

Marine Ecologist - Quantitative Modeller
Email Dr Tom Brough

Dr Beata Bukosa

Atmospheric Modeller
Email Dr Beata Bukosa

Dr Trevor Carey-Smith

Climate Scientist
Email Dr Trevor Carey-Smith
placeholder image

Dr Heather Craig

Hazard and Risk Analyst
Email Dr Heather Craig

Dr Vonda Cummings

Principal Scientist - Marine Ecology
Email Dr Vonda Cummings

Dr Sam Dean

Principal Scientist - Climate
Email Dr Sam Dean
placeholder image

Dr Stacy Deppeler

Marine Biogeochemistry Technician
Email Dr Stacy Deppeler

Dr Eimear Egan

Freshwater Fish Ecologist
Email Dr Eimear Egan

Dr Rachel Hale

Marine Ecologist
Email Dr Rachel Hale

Dr Svenja Halfter

Zooplankton Ecologist
Email Dr Svenja Halfter

Dr Sarah Harrison

Social Scientist
Email Dr Sarah Harrison

Dr Alice Hill

Hydrologist
Email Dr Alice Hill

Dr Danielle Johnson

Social Scientist
Email Dr Danielle Johnson

Dr Orlando Lam-Gordillo

Coastal Marine Ecologist
Email Dr Orlando Lam-Gordillo

Dr Cliff Law

Principal Scientist-Marine Biogeochemistry
Email Dr Cliff Law

Dr Andrew Lorrey

Principal Scientist - Climate and Environmental Applications
Email Dr Andrew Lorrey

Dr Richard McKenzie

Emeritus Researcher – Atmospheric Radiation
Email Dr Richard McKenzie
placeholder image

Dr Irene Middleton

Marine Ecologist
Email Dr Irene Middleton

Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher

Principal Scientist - Carbon Chemistry and Modelling
Email Dr Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher

Dr Olaf Morgenstern

Principal Scientist - Atmosphere and Climate
Email Dr Olaf Morgenstern
placeholder image

Dr Amir Pirooz

NWP/CFD Modeller and Analyst
Email Dr Amir Pirooz

Dr Channa Rajanayaka

Surface Water - Groundwater Modeller
Email Dr Channa Rajanayaka

Dr Christo Rautenbach

Coastal and Estuarine Physical Processes Scientist
Email Dr Christo Rautenbach
placeholder image

Dr Graham Rickard

Marine Physics Modeller
Email Dr Graham Rickard
placeholder image

Dr Natalie Robinson

Marine Physicist
Email Dr Natalie Robinson

Dr Hinrich schaefer

Atmospheric Scientist
Email Dr Hinrich schaefer
placeholder image

Dr Abha Sood

Climate Scientist
Email Dr Abha Sood

Dr Christian Stiegler

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Scientist
Email Dr Christian Stiegler
placeholder image

Dr Rick Stoffels

Freshwater Ecologist
Email Dr Rick Stoffels
Subscribe to RSS - Climate change