A future in our hands
As a climate scientist, I often feel frustrated by the lack of urgency in addressing climate change. However, I also find hope and determination in every step forward, whether it’s efforts to reduce emissions, increase resilience, or conversations about the issue. As an early career scientist, I’m fortunate to be part of the Climate Systems Hub, surrounded by passionate researchers and communicators ensuring climate science is communicated and connected to decision-makers.
A key highlight has been working with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), helping them incorporate climate information into their adaptation planning. AWC, Australia’s largest non-profit wildlife conservation organisation, manages over 30 properties. It’s been rewarding to see how they’re using future climate projections to make informed decisions, like translocating species from areas that climate models say will become too hot to properties that are expected to stay within the species’ historical climate range. 
Image provided by AWC, photographed by Wayne Lawler.
My work at the hub focuses on understanding drought impacts and future projections. While assessing historical drought impacts can be challenging due to limited observational data, working with AWC has given me the opportunity to analyse a wealth of mammal population data to better understand how extreme drought leads to rapid population declines. This case study helped AWC grasp their vulnerability to drought and gave context to available projections. While there is a large range in what the climate models say about future drought, they are in high agreement about an increase in the amount of time spent in extreme drought in southern and southwestern Australia. AWC properties located in these regions now have drought adaptation as a priority.
Right now, my research feels especially personal as my home city, Adelaide, faces an extreme drought. While droughts are natural in Australia, projections indicate they will become more frequent alongside rising temperatures. The impacts are visible—vegetation is dying, and rainwater supplies are running dry. I grieved as I took my kids exploring through the bush where I grew up, finding most of the vegetation dead, including the beautiful sheoak trees I always loved. I couldn’t help but think of the coral reefs bleaching and all the other landscapes transforming gradually or suddenly, and of Indigenous people with much longer connections to country who have already seen massive transformations in the landscape through colonisation.
Although it is confronting to see new climate impacts unfold, awareness of the urgency for adaptation is growing and not just at institutional levels. I’m seeing more people instinctively thinking about their own climate adaptation measures and showing more curiosity about understanding our climate. Although our climate modelling shows that more change and increased extremes are on the way, it also shows that the future is still very much in our hands, with large differences in the climate depending on which future emissions pathway we choose. That motivates me every day.
Vanessa Round
Climate Scientist, CSIRO
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