Climatic variation is one of the most important considerations for environment and society on the Australian continent because it governs fundamentally important environmental phenomena such as fire, flood and drought. This course focuses on the underlying principles required for understanding climate variability, weather, water resources and the occurrence of bushfires, and the fascinating inter-relationships that exist among these key elements of the Australian environment.

The course is structured around the key concepts in each of these elements, including: atmospheric processes; general circulation of the atmosphere; weather systems; climate variability, particularly extreme events like floods and drought; climate change; the fire regime; and factors that result in variation in the occurrence of bushfires across the continent.

The course has a focus on interactions among weather, climate and bushfires, and there is scope for specialization and the investigation of their management implications and importance for human systems. It is designed to lead students into advanced third year courses in climatology, climate change,water resource management and bushfire science. Key components of the course provide insights into ongoing research being undertaken in The Fenner School of Environment & Society and the Bushfire CRC.

Note: Graduate students attend joint classes with later year undergraduate students but are assessed separately.

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Describe and explain the physical processes that lead to variability in weather, climate and fire regime observed locally and across Australia
2. Evaluate the interactions between these processes and explain how they result in varying weather, climatic and fire regime patterns
3. Analyse and forecast weather and fire danger using appropriate tools
4. Critically analyse weather, fire and climate scenarios that vary in location, scale and complexity
5. Critically reflect on the interactions that explain weather, climate and fire regime characteristics and communicate these in ways appropriate to a range of audiences

Assessment is to be agreed in discussion with students, but will be based on:

• Tutorial facilitation, including written handout (20%; LO 1, 2, 4, 5)
• Fact sheet preparation on self-selected topic (30%; LO 1, 2, 5)
• Written assignment based on practical work, including critical review of relevant readings (50%; LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 

5 hours of lectures and practicals per week.  Students are expected to spend an average of a further 4 hours per week on work related to the course.

Bachelor degree; general science knowledge.

SRES6004

Sturman, AP andTapper, NJ (2006) The Weather and Climate of Australia & New Zealand. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Cheney, P and Sullivan, A (2008) Grassfires. Fuel, Weather and Fire Behaviour. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria.