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RST Apology to Tasmanian Aboriginal people 2021.

The climate of Macquarie Island and its role in atmospheric monitoring

Papers & Reports

Summary

An analysis is made of the principal climatic elements at Macquarie Island in relation to the general circulation of the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. The climate is characterised by a high frequency of strong
west to northwesterly winds and frequent gales, low variability of temperature, a high frequency of low cloud and fog, and a high number of days with precipitation throughout the year. In general, the climate is typical of a higher mid-latitude oceanic island, and its features are compared with others in the circumpolar Southern Ocean.
From a different perspective the island occupies a unique geographic site. This makes it extremely valuable as a meteorological observatory, enabling regular surface and upper air observations for day-to-day global analysis and forecasting, and providing climatic data representative of the higher southern mid-latitudes. Despite the advent of new observational techniques (such as satellite-reporting drifting ocean buoys, satellite cloud imagery and satellite-derived atmospheric temperature profiles), the observations from Macquarie Island continue to constitute essential calibration data for space-derived measurements and provide the long-term continuity only possible at a fixed baseline station. The importance of these data is stressed; not only with respect to the standard meteorological observations but also to the measurement of ozone, carbon dioxide and other atmospheric trace constituents which are becoming increasingly recognised as significant in studies of long-term climatic change.

 

Keywords:

Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library

Acknowledgement of Country

The Royal Society of Tasmania acknowledges, with deep respect, the traditional owners of this land, and the ongoing custodianship of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania. The Society pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge that Tasmanian Aboriginal Peoples have survived severe and unjust impacts resulting from invasion and dispossession of their Country. As an institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge, the Royal Society of Tasmania recognises Aboriginal cultural knowledge and practices and seeks to respect and honour these traditions and the deep understanding they represent.

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On 15 February 2021, the Royal Society of Tasmania offered a formal Apology to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.