Local climate adaptation depends on a global scientific system that observes the entire planet.
Every day, thousands of instruments across land, sea, sky and space are measuring the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.
Weather stations record temperature and rainfall. Ocean buoys drift across vast distances and deep water. Weather balloons rise. Satellites orbit the planet roughly every 100 minutes, scanning clouds, winds and ocean temperatures.
Together these observations feed into global climate and weather models that allow scientists to understand what is happening in the atmosphere now and how conditions may change in the future.
Local adaptation decisions about flood risk, heat mitigation or infrastructure design depend on this global scientific infrastructure.
As Dr Anthony Rea explained at the AdaptNSW Forum 2025 session on climate data sovereignty, no single country can build or operate such a system alone.
Anthony is an internationally recognised expert in weather, water and climate data systems. He was formerly director of infrastructure at the World Meteorological Organization, and has held senior leadership roles at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.
He was joined by Matthew Riley, Director of Climate and Atmospheric Science at the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Matthew leads major scientific programs including atmospheric monitoring, climate modelling and net zero emissions analysis.
Both speakers emphasised the cooperation required to operate a global observing network. Programs like NARCliM, the NSW and Australian Regional Climate Modelling Program, “rely on good relationships and collaborations across the international science landscape,” Matthew said.
“A weather model… takes all the data from satellites, surface observations, weather balloons, ships – everything. Huge amount of data flying around the planet… that creates a snapshot of what the planet is doing at a point in time.”
Dr Anthony Rea, Adjunct Industry Associate Professor, Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University
From rain gauges to planetary sensing
Long before satellites and supercomputers, climate science began with people measuring rainfall, temperature and pressure by hand.
In Australia, the first systematic meteorological observations were made in 1788 by William Dawes, an astronomer with the First Fleet. Dawes established an observatory at Sydney Cove and meticulously recorded temperature, barometric pressure, wind and weather, sometimes six times a day.
Today those observations form part of Australia’s earliest climate records – and we now operate one of the world’s most extensive observing networks.
While most of this network is now automated, volunteers have contributed weather, climate and water observations to the Bureau of Meteorology since 1908. Their work includes rainfall measurement, river height monitoring, storm spotting and observations from ships.
For many years, scientists studied climate by analysing long-term observations at specific locations, Anthony noted.
But this approach alone is no longer sufficient. “In a changing climate, there’s a broad recognition that that just doesn’t work anymore.”
Translating global science to local decisions
Modern climate science combines observations with modelling to understand how the system behaves. “They each play their role,” Matthew said.
Observations describe what has happened and what is happening now. Climate models allow scientists to explore how conditions may evolve in the future.
Meteorological services share observations continuously through international agreements coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization.
Remarkably, this cooperation has endured through decades of political tension.
World Weather Watch, established in 1963, created a framework for sharing meteorological observations across national borders. Even during the height of the Cold War, global meteorological centres in Melbourne, Washington and Moscow exchanged weather data, Anthony told the audience.
The “strength of these relationships” continues today. “Russia will have access to Ukraine's weather observations and vice versa,” Anthony said.
“A global observing system is, by its nature, reliant on relationships at the global level.”
Matthew Riley, Director of Climate and Atmospheric Science, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Matthew described climate knowledge as a “global common good”.
“Sixty or seventy years of sharing [weather and climate] data at the global level is … one of the great outcomes of all nations on Earth working together.”
Essential infrastructure for climate resilience
The global observing system is essential infrastructure for climate resilience.
If that system weakens – through geopolitical tensions, restrictions on data sharing or cuts to observing infrastructure – the consequences are felt everywhere.
Forecasts may become less reliable and climate projections less certain. Over time, that uncertainty flows into local decisions about flood planning, infrastructure design, agriculture, emergency management and insurance.
Economic modelling in 2017 found that every dollar invested in Australian Bureau of Meteorology services returns about $11.60 in economic benefit.
In other words, the global observing system is not just a scientific achievement. It is critical infrastructure for Australia’s climate adaptive future.
AdaptNSW 2025 Forum
The AdaptNSW Forum 2025 was an exploration of our entangled, complex and interdependent world, and to Other Ways of Knowing, Thinking, Feeling and Doing. To face climate risks, we need to shift from business-as-usual and lead with our humanity. By embracing approaches that recognise how everything is interwoven, we can rethink our values, systems and actions to build a just and hopeful future.