Despite the advances made in modelling, translating ‘climate change’ into ‘weather change’ remains a major challenge for Earth System sciences. We cannot build new wind farms if we don’t know where strong, consistent winds will be, nor make informed decisions about new water catchment and storage infrastructure without more accurate data about future rainfall frequency and intensity.

It’s not uncommon to have “four seasons in one day” in Melbourne. Our variable weather patterns are driven by conditions moving from west to east and, to some extent, from the Southern Ocean to Australia. These variables control cloud formation and, just like following a cake recipe, change in flavour and form depending on the ingredients you put in.