Atmospheric analysis

Annual Climate Summaries from 2000 to present.

Blooms of hazardous cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in rivers, lakes and reservoirs can cause problems for both animal and human health.

Shellfish gathering and farming take place in marine and freshwater environments.

The greenhouse effect is a warming of the earth's surface and lower atmosphere caused by substances which let the sun's energy through to the ground but impede the passage of energy from the earth back into space.

The climate of this zone is largely dependent on the lie of the Southern Alps to the west, but many areas are also sheltered by high country to the south and east.

Due to its position in the 'Roaring Forties', a belt of strong winds in the Southern Hemisphere which generally occur between the latitudes of 40 and 49 degrees, as well as its small size, New Zealand is a windy country.

A glossary of common climate change and meteorological terms.

Forest plantations in Aotearoa can be found on flat, gently rolling, or very steep terrain.

NIWA makes available and regularly updates results from several greenhouse gas measurement projects.

Check out UV index forecasts for locations in New Zealand (including ski fields), Australia, the Pacific and Antarctica.

The Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) is a simple measure of drought (and also of very wet conditions) and is based solely on the accumulated precipitation for a given time period.