CSIRO, in collaboration with the Bureau of Meteorology, is a major science provider and co-investor in the Australian Climate Change Science Program [external link] (ACCSP). The Program is funded and administered by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

The ACCSP aims to improve our understanding of the causes, nature, timing and consequences of climate change so that government, industry and the community are better informed.

The ACCSP is integral to Australia’s climate change research effort. The program collaborates with the Australian Academy of Science, the Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and Australian universities. The Program contributes to maintaining Australia’s world class modelling capacity, and continues to inform Australia’s response to climate change. 

The program addresses six themes:

• understanding the key influences on climate change in Australia
• improved modelling of the climate system and of climate change
• assessments of climate change, climate variability and extreme events
• regional climate change projections
• international research collaboration
• coordination and communication.

Specific research areas include:

• understanding the Southern Ocean and its influence on global climate
• increasing our knowledge of the contribution to, and response of, Australia's unique biosphere to climate change
• understanding processes in the atmosphere, such as cloud properties and aerosol behaviour, that contribute to current and likely future climate
• incorporating climate knowledge into computer models that represent the climate system and that can be verified and used for the projection of future climate change and its impacts
• regional assessments of the impacts of (and development of strategies to address) climate change, global change and climatic variability.

The ACCSP aims to provide the best possible information to support decision making on climate-related issues, underpinning the capacity of governments, industry and the community to understand and respond to climate change.

For further information, please visit:

• Australian Climate Change Science Program [external link]
• Understanding climate change [external link]
• Bureau of Meteorology observed Australian climate trends [external link]
• Australian climate projections [external link]