By developing a 1,000-year history of wind currents over the Southern Ocean, an Australian-led research has discovered the answers to two climate change-related mysteries. Firstly, why southern Australia is drying out, and secondly, why Antarctica isn’t warming as much as the rest of the planet.
Their work shows that the winds encircling Antarctica have sped up and moved south as a result of climate change, drawing rain clouds away from Australia and keeping the continent cool. Western Australia is the state that has suffered most so far, losing 20 per cent of its winter rainfall since the 1960s.
From our friends at the Australian Science Media Centre. Journalists registered with them can access the news briefing here.
Original research paper published in the the journal Nature Climate Change on May 11, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
