Latest news with #easternAustralia
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Rain band to soak 80 percent of Australia this weekend
The five-day deluge will see the brunt of the rain fall over parts of southern and eastern Australia, with some areas expected to cop up to 60mm. The downpour, delivered by one of the largest rain bands in years, has been caused by a low-pressure system colliding with a stream of tropical moisture.
The Independent
24-06-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Why climate change is making severe turbulence on flights more likely
Unexpected severe turbulence injured crew and passengers on a Qantas Boeing 737 during descent at Brisbane on May 4, 2024. The subsequent Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation suggested the severity of the turbulence caught the captain by surprise. This is not an isolated event. Thunderstorms featuring severe wind gusts, such as violent updrafts and downbursts, are hazardous to aircraft. Downbursts, in particular, have been known to cause many serious accidents. Our new research suggests global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of wind gusts from thunderstorm 'downbursts', with serious consequences for air travel. We used machine learning techniques to identify the climate drivers causing more thunderstorm downbursts. Increased heat and moisture over eastern Australia turned out to be the key ingredients. The findings suggest air safety authorities and airlines in eastern Australia must be more vigilant during takeoff and landing in a warming world. Warm, moist air spells trouble for planes Global warming increases the amount of water vapour in the lower atmosphere. That's because 1°C of warming allows the atmosphere to hold 7 per cent more water vapour. The extra moisture typically comes from adjacent warmer seas. It evaporates from the surface of the ocean and feeds clouds. Increased heat and water vapour fuel stronger thunderstorms. So, climate change is expected to increase thunderstorm activity over eastern Australia. For aircraft, the main problem with thunderstorms is the risk of hazardous, rapid changes in wind strength and direction at low levels. Small yet powerful Small downbursts, several kilometres wide, are especially dangerous. These 'microbursts' can cause abrupt changes in wind gust speed and direction, creating turbulence that suddenly moves the plane in all directions, both horizontally and vertically. Microburst wind gusts can be extremely strong. Brisbane Airport recorded a microburst wind gust at 157km per hour in November 2016. Three planes on the tarmac were extensively damaged. On descent or ascent, aircraft encountering microbursts can experience sudden, unexpected losses or gains in altitude. This has caused numerous aircraft accidents in the past. Microbursts will become increasingly problematic in a warming climate. Microburst analysis and prediction Microbursts are very difficult to predict because they are so small. So we used machine learning to identify the environmental factors most conducive to the formation of microbursts and associated severe wind gusts. We accessed observational data from the Bureau of Meteorology 's extensive archives. Then we applied eight different machine learning techniques to find the one that worked best. Machine learning is a field of study in artificial intelligence that uses algorithms and statistical models to enable computers to learn from data without explicit programming. It enables systems to identify patterns, make predictions and improve performance over time as they take in more information. We found that atmospheric conditions in eastern Australia are increasingly favouring the development of stronger, more frequent thunderstorm microbursts. We investigated a microburst outbreak from a storm front in 2018. It produced severe surface wind gusts at six regional airports in New South Wales: Bourke, Walgett, Coonamble, Moree, Narrabri and Gunnedah. Regional airports in Australia and around the world often use small aircraft. Small planes with 4–50 passenger seats are more vulnerable to the strong, even extreme, wind gusts spawned by thunderstorm microbursts. Widespread consequences Our extensive regional case study identified the weather patterns that create severe thunderstorms in eastern Australia during the warmer months. High cloud water content creates a downward force in the cloud. This force induces a descending air current. When the heavier air reaches the ground, wind gusts spray out in multiple directions. These wind gusts endanger aircraft during takeoff and landing, because rapid wind shifts from tail winds to head winds can cause the aircraft to dangerously gain or lose altitude. Our analysis highlights the elevated aviation risks of increased atmospheric turbulence from thunderstorm microbursts across eastern Australia. Smaller aircraft at inland regional airports in southeastern Australia are especially vulnerable. But these sudden microburst-generated wind gusts will require monitoring by major east coast airports, such as Sydney and Brisbane. Beware of heightened microburst activity Flying has long been recognised as a very safe mode of travel, with an accident rate of just 1.13 per million flights. However, passenger numbers worldwide have increased dramatically, implying even a small risk increase could affect a large number of travellers. Previous research into climate-related risks to air travel has tended to focus on high-altitude cruising dangers, such as clear air turbulence and jet stream instability. In contrast, there has been less emphasis on dangers during low-level ascent and descent. Our research is among the first to detail the heightened climate risk to airlines from thunderstorm microbursts, especially during takeoff and landing. Airlines and air safety authorities should anticipate stronger microbursts. More frequent wind gust turbulence from microbursts is to be expected over eastern Australia, in our ongoing warming climate. Milton Speer is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney.
The Independent
23-06-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
How climate change is threatening airline passenger safety
Unexpected severe turbulence injured crew and passengers on a Qantas Boeing 737 during descent at Brisbane on May 4, 2024. The subsequent Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation suggested the severity of the turbulence caught the captain by surprise. This is not an isolated event. Thunderstorms featuring severe wind gusts, such as violent updrafts and downbursts, are hazardous to aircraft. Downbursts, in particular, have been known to cause many serious accidents. Our new research suggests global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of wind gusts from thunderstorm 'downbursts', with serious consequences for air travel. We used machine learning techniques to identify the climate drivers causing more thunderstorm downbursts. Increased heat and moisture over eastern Australia turned out to be the key ingredients. The findings suggest air safety authorities and airlines in eastern Australia must be more vigilant during takeoff and landing in a warming world. Warm, moist air spells trouble for planes Global warming increases the amount of water vapour in the lower atmosphere. That's because 1°C of warming allows the atmosphere to hold 7 per cent more water vapour. The extra moisture typically comes from adjacent warmer seas. It evaporates from the surface of the ocean and feeds clouds. Increased heat and water vapour fuel stronger thunderstorms. So, climate change is expected to increase thunderstorm activity over eastern Australia. For aircraft, the main problem with thunderstorms is the risk of hazardous, rapid changes in wind strength and direction at low levels. Small yet powerful Small downbursts, several kilometres wide, are especially dangerous. These 'microbursts' can cause abrupt changes in wind gust speed and direction, creating turbulence that suddenly moves the plane in all directions, both horizontally and vertically. Microburst wind gusts can be extremely strong. Brisbane Airport recorded a microburst wind gust at 157km per hour in November 2016. Three planes on the tarmac were extensively damaged. On descent or ascent, aircraft encountering microbursts can experience sudden, unexpected losses or gains in altitude. This has caused numerous aircraft accidents in the past. Microbursts will become increasingly problematic in a warming climate. Microburst analysis and prediction Microbursts are very difficult to predict because they are so small. So we used machine learning to identify the environmental factors most conducive to the formation of microbursts and associated severe wind gusts. We accessed observational data from the Bureau of Meteorology 's extensive archives. Then we applied eight different machine learning techniques to find the one that worked best. Machine learning is a field of study in artificial intelligence that uses algorithms and statistical models to enable computers to learn from data without explicit programming. It enables systems to identify patterns, make predictions and improve performance over time as they take in more information. We found that atmospheric conditions in eastern Australia are increasingly favouring the development of stronger, more frequent thunderstorm microbursts. We investigated a microburst outbreak from a storm front in 2018. It produced severe surface wind gusts at six regional airports in New South Wales: Bourke, Walgett, Coonamble, Moree, Narrabri and Gunnedah. Regional airports in Australia and around the world often use small aircraft. Small planes with 4–50 passenger seats are more vulnerable to the strong, even extreme, wind gusts spawned by thunderstorm microbursts. Widespread consequences Our extensive regional case study identified the weather patterns that create severe thunderstorms in eastern Australia during the warmer months. High cloud water content creates a downward force in the cloud. This force induces a descending air current. When the heavier air reaches the ground, wind gusts spray out in multiple directions. These wind gusts endanger aircraft during takeoff and landing, because rapid wind shifts from tail winds to head winds can cause the aircraft to dangerously gain or lose altitude. Our analysis highlights the elevated aviation risks of increased atmospheric turbulence from thunderstorm microbursts across eastern Australia. Smaller aircraft at inland regional airports in southeastern Australia are especially vulnerable. But these sudden microburst-generated wind gusts will require monitoring by major east coast airports, such as Sydney and Brisbane. Beware of heightened microburst activity Flying has long been recognised as a very safe mode of travel, with an accident rate of just 1.13 per million flights. However, passenger numbers worldwide have increased dramatically, implying even a small risk increase could affect a large number of travellers. Previous research into climate-related risks to air travel has tended to focus on high-altitude cruising dangers, such as clear air turbulence and jet stream instability. In contrast, there has been less emphasis on dangers during low-level ascent and descent. Our research is among the first to detail the heightened climate risk to airlines from thunderstorm microbursts, especially during takeoff and landing. Airlines and air safety authorities should anticipate stronger microbursts. More frequent wind gust turbulence from microbursts is to be expected over eastern Australia, in our ongoing warming climate. Milton Speer is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney.
News.com.au
20-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Top 10 at 11: ASX plunges 0.31pc in first hour of trade
Morning, and welcome to Stockhead's Top 10 (at 11… ish), highlighting the movers and shakers on the ASX in early-doors trading. With the market opening at 10am sharp eastern time, the data is taken at 10.15am, once trading kicks off in earnest. In brief, this is what the market has been up to this morning. ASX flashes red across the board It's been building over the last couple of days, but Aussie traders have officially had enough of the chaos, and they're pulling back sharply in the first hour of trade this morning. After small dips over the last week or so, the ASX has finally pulled back into a correction, losing 0.31%. The sectors are all in the red except energy, but that's barely worth a mention at +0.01% as of about 10:30 am AEST. The All Ords Gold index is also slightly up, adding just 0.04%, but otherwise it's a sea of negatives on the market this morning. We're not alone – European markets fell to month lows last night, and while the US was closed for the Juneteenth holiday, futures are predicting near full percentage point plunges for the S&P500 and Nasdaq tomorrow. As Eddy Sunarto reported this morning, the global economy is teetering on the edge as we wait to see if US President Donald Trump will involve the US directly in the Israel-Iran conflict. In the meantime, let's see who's making moves on the ASX. WINNERS Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap SKN Skin Elements Ltd 0.003 50% 337063 $2,150,428 RNX Renegade Exploration 0.004 33% 71227 $3,865,090 AUK Aumake Limited 0.0025 25% 176755 $6,046,718 FIN FIN Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 100000 $2,779,554 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.0025 25% 1453193 $5,640,850 ALR Altairminerals 0.003 20% 312349 $10,741,860 BLU Blue Energy Limited 0.006 20% 628542 $9,254,868 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.006 20% 252223 $13,474,426 PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.012 20% 479226 $6,980,013 DXN DXN Limited 0.055 17% 281887 $14,039,071 In the news... Hydrogen compression and shipping solution company Provaris Energy (ASX:PV1) has teamed up with global shipping leader 'K' LINE. K LINE, otherwise known as Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, will provide technical, commercial and operation support, offering its extensive global shipping expertise as PV1 develops its hydrogen transport and storage model. PV1's main focus is the proprietary H2Neo Carrier and H2Leo Barge, which offer a combination of offshore compression, storage and shipping solutions for hydrogen gas transportation. LAGGARDS Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap BCB Bowen Coal Limited 0.195 -44% 331897 $37,715,145 RLC Reedy Lagoon Corp. 0.001 -33% 135000 $1,165,060 RPG Raptis Group Limited 0.115 -28% 123036 $56,109,577 EEL Enrg Elements Ltd 0.0015 -25% 532818 $6,507,557 DRE Dreadnought Resources 0.009 -25% 31724505 $60,954,000 WEC White Energy Company 0.035 -20% 113 $13,711,276 OMG OMG Group Limited 0.004 -20% 900000 $3,641,474 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.002 -20% 52423 $7,513,788 VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.004 -20% 63043 $23,423,890 AMS Atomos 0.005 -17% 7147 $7,290,111 In the news... Bowen Coking Coal (ASX:BCB) has signalled it's considering placing the Burton Mine Complex operation into a temporary pause if an effort to transition the project to an owner-operator model is unsuccessful. The company is exploring a range of options to fund the transition plan and provide immediate liquidity, but the most recent Resources and Energy Quarterly forecasts falling demand for met coal as low emissions steel production gains pace. Dreadnought Resources (ASX:DRE) hit gold in 20 of 46 drill holes over various prospects at the Mangaroon gold project in WA, but results of up to 6m at 22.9 gold from 12m of depth weren't enough to wow investors. Some of that disappointment can be explained by a lack of results at the Lead Mine and Two Peaks prospects, where DRE hit nothing of consequence and will need to review its drill orientation.
