Most governments accept that there can be interference to global telecommunications from periods of peak solar activity; however, supporting the position that the Sun’s emissions can affect our weather and climate has the researcher tagged as a ‘climate change sceptic’. Detailed spectral analysis of fifty diverse solar and climatic data sets from the NOAA repository shows that there are significant climate cycles at different time scales which are harmonics of gyrations in the Sun’s magnetic field. These cycles provide a natural template upon which anthropogenic contributions should then be considered. Understanding these cycles in a chaotically deterministic system means that repetitions of solar activity should produce similar responses in future rainfall patterns. This idea is explored using the Southern Oscillation Index where centennial cycles from the Federation Drought Period (that is, in the early 1900s) are paired with the current cycle, allowing for the tracking of the likelihood of major droughts and floods over the next decade. Such potential to predict future events should be at the centre of public policy formation for water management rather than at the periphery; any outright rejection of this natural template raises questions on the scientific underpinnings of climate change policy.

Cyclone Winston in February 2016 was the most powerful storm on record to make landfall in Fiji. Whilst the wind and rainfall from the category-5 cyclone were directly measured, little information on waves is available besides hindcast wave data that are more accurate for offshore conditions. In this study, we delineate nearshore storm waves generated by Cyclone Winston on the northern Fijian island of Taveuni. We inversely model the wave magnitude from the characteristics of large coral boulders (maximum 33.8 m³, 60.8 metric tons), which were transported and deposited during both Cyclone Winston and older extreme events. The results suggest that Cyclone Winston storm waves reached 10 m in height on the fringing reef and produced flow velocities exceeding 13 m/s upon breaking. These values coincide with the scale of the largest ancient storms on this coast, as estimated from older boulder data published in earlier findings. We conclude that although Cyclone Winston tracked an uncommonly sinuous path and was described as the strongest cyclone to impact Fiji, its coastal wave magnitudes were by no means unprecedented. Similar extreme waves, presumably cyclone-driven, show a recurrence throughout prehistorical times. These findings thus have implications for coastal hazard preparedness in Fiji.

Flood events liberate sediment from managed landscapes, transporting nutrients in high concentrations to depositional landscapes. As flood events increase, and more soil is exposed, depositional landscapes can become accumulation zones for undesired nutrient enrichment.
We measured sulfate, nitrate and phosphate concentrations in water, watershed and depositional soil landscapes in the Quamby sub-catchment, Tasmania after a recent flood event. We extensively sampled the region because (a) the high proportion of potential acid sulfate soils (PASS) in this agroecological region are vulnerable to exposure with climate change, and, (b) groundtruthing of available soil data has not been conducted for twenty years.
We found no detectable nitrates in natural waters in or around the catchment. Nitrate distribution in soil was related to a-horizon silt content, an indicator of depositional landscapes. Phosphate and sulphate distribution was related historical refuse activity and forestry activity upstream from the sites and both anions were detectable in water around the catchment (though not exceeding ANZECC guidelines). The expansion of current PASS zoning is recommended following the detection of substantial sulphate concentrations within the B-Horizon of soils outside of known Acid-Sulphate Probability areas. The results highlight the importance of improved monitoring and evaluation strategies in flood prone agroecological zones.