Australian Climate Change Science Program

The Australian Government supports a broad range of climate change science research activities. This helps us to better understand global and regional climate change and its potential impact on Australia's natural and managed systems.

The Australian Climate Change Science Program (ACCSP) aims to improve our understanding of the causes, nature, timing and consequences of climate change so that industry, community and government decisions can be better informed.

The ACCSP is administered by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and is co-funded by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science, the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre and Australian universities. The program has been running continuously since 1989 and is a key driver of Australia's climate change research effort.

The ACCSP has addressed a range of climate change research needs.

The program continues to demonstrate that human-induced changes are taking place in our atmosphere, oceans and biosphere. For example, oceans are warming, greenhouse gas concentrations are rising and we are experiencing some impacts of climate change through extreme events. Our researchers are establishing how these changes are happening and what we may expect in the future.

The ACCSP has delivered:

  • improved observations, data management and modelling
  • enhanced understanding of climate and weather systems, particularly for the Australian region
  • improved tracking of atmospheric carbon concentrations, and
  • updated projections of climate change for Australia.

The ACCSP supports the vast array of global observations used to monitor our climate and to underpin climate projections. Some significant observations include sea-level rise, ocean temperature, ocean acidification, ocean salinity, climate modelling, climate and weather systems and measuring the carbon cycle.

Further information about the ACCSP can be found at the Australian Climate Change Science Program website.