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NIWA is a Crown owned research and consultancy company, with a global reputation as experts in water and atmospheric research. 

Photos (71)

News (113)

1:50PM
Scientists spot rare blue whales off New Zealand coast Rare blue whales have been spotted by NIWA scientists on a research expedition in the South Taranaki Bight. 511 views

9:45PM
A cool October in the south and west South Island; very dry in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay Temperature     A cool October for the south and west of the South Island, as well as Ruapehu to Hamilton, including inland Bay of Plenty. 287 views

2:23PM
Recent studies reveal significant warming of the world's lakes Scientists from around the world that work on lakes are pooling data and expertise, to better understand global changes in lake temperature. 218 views

9:43AM
Climate change trends to be studied Potential climate change trends over the next 90 years will be identified and examined in a new, multi-million dollar research project which aims to ‘climate proof’ New Zealand. 160 views

1:59PM
Spring westerlies kick-start September Spring westerlies arrived during the first few days of September, and prevailed during the first half of the month. These stormy westerly quarter winds produced very wet conditions on the West Coast of the South Island, but in contrast, a rather dry month in eastern areas of both islands. From mid-month, a pattern change saw more anticyclones than usual lie over New Zealand and to the east of the country. This combination of patterns resulted in more northwest winds than normal over New Zealand for the month of September, overall. 429 views

4:01PM
NIWA celebrates success of the Montreal Protocol This Sunday, NIWA celebrates the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol, which is hailed as the most successful international environmental protection treaty to date. 324 views

12:52PM
NIWA seafloor mapping of Auckland's doorstep NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa will set sail from Wellington on 21 August to map the seabed in the mid-to-outer Greater Hauraki Gulf, including the coast off Coromandel. 282 views

2:55PM
NIWA National Climate Summary: A month of two halves; cold & dry to start, then wet & warm Rainfall Extremely wet in Northland, Western Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Gisborne, southern Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Tasman, south Canterbury and parts of Otago.  In contrast, it was unusually dry in Southland. 269 views

8:24AM
Float your boat! Scientists use hi-tech miniature Q-boat to measure river flows Scientists are using a remote-controlled miniature speedboat to gauge New Zealand river flows. 497 views

8:13AM
Scientists set to spy on rockhopper penguins Scientists are poised to solve a mystery. 318 views

8:59AM
French and Kiwi scientists say "oui!" to stronger scientific cooperation in the South Pacific Next week, in New Caledonia, representatives from NIWA and French science agency GOPS will join forces to sign a significant agreement for closer scientific collaboration in the South Pacific region. 340 views

4:57PM
National Climate Summary – Autumn 2012: Dry and record sunny over South Island Rainfall: Dry over the South Island as well as in Manawatu-Wanganui and the Tararua District.  Above normal autumn rainfall for Northland, north Auckland, Gisborne, parts of Hawkes Bay and the south Wairarapa coast. 191 views

1:50PM
Looking to the past for a complete record of earthquakes in Poverty Bay Scientists have been working on ways to find out about earthquakes that occurred before oral and written records began in New Zealand. 169 views

2:11PM
National Climate Summary National Climate Summary – May 2012:  Dry over the South Island; generally sunny & cool Rainfall: Extremely dry in Canterbury, and generally dry elsewhere in the South Island. 177 views

2:44PM
NIWA National Climate Centre Seasonal Climate Outlook June-August 2012 Drier winter likely for some Neutral conditions (neither La Niña nor El Niño) presently exist in the tropical Pacific and should persist through much of winter, but there is a likelihood of El Niño developing by spring. 213 views

4:10PM
New Zealand: first in the world to catalogue all its species through all of time New Zealand is the first country in the world to catalogue its entire known living and fossil life. 232 views

10:11AM
Vital areas of New Zealand's seafloor to be revealed in detail for the first time   New Zealand’s largest research vessel Tangaroa sets off today to map, in high resolution detail, the southern Hikurangi Margin - a vital area of seabed off the east coast of New Zealand. 345 views

9:48AM
Seasonal Climate Outlook - La Niña over, and a mild start to winter for New Zealand Neutral conditions prevail in the tropical Pacific (no La Niña or El Niño), after the end of the 2011/12 La Niña event. 455 views

8:57AM
NIWA Media Release Is that the sea creeping up behind me? The sea is creeping up on us, with storm surge flooding starting to occur more frequently on king tides. 281 views

10:15AM
Robot spies make new science discoveries in Fiordland's World Heritage Park NIWA and Environment Southland have recently returned with stunning new footage of undersea sills in Dusky and Doubtful Sounds, brimming with sea life, corals and sponges.  The footage was taken from a remote-operated vehicle (ROV), and is being used to assess 20 areas within Fiordland currently designated as anchoring sites for tourist cruise ships. 562 views

2:08PM
Spying on our great white sharks Scientists  have just completed a successful trip to Stewart Island, tagging 23 great white sharks. 144 views

8:01AM
Flyathalon - NIWA gives aquatic insects an obstacle course How far and fast can aquatic insects travel upstream? Do the adults have to fly, or can the larvae crawl? A NIWA scientist is using obstacle courses to test the ability of fly larvae for upstream travel - a kind of flyathalon. 278 views

8:13AM
First-of-its-kind study finds wild mussel beds may recover Overfishing and sedimentation have reduced the number of natural beds of green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus), in soft sediment habitats, from many regions around New Zealand. 503 views

9:11PM
National Climate Summary – Summer 2011: North Island and Nelson – short changed! Summer (December 2011- February 2012) was characterised by more highs than usual near the Chatham Islands, and more lows than normal over the north Tasman Sea. 263 views

8:04AM
NIWA scientist studies the mixing of river and sea and asks: Where do river sediments go? Flying above the New Zealand coastline on cloudless days, you can sometimes see plumes of material-laden river water, much of it containing sediment from land runoff. 195 views

3:23PM
La Nina gone by Easter; somewhat stormy Tasman Sea A mature La Niña event in the tropical Pacific should be gone by Easter, according to the NIWA National Climate Centre.  This means that local sea temperatures around our coast, and low pressure activity over the Tasman Sea, are likely to most influence our autumn climate. 178 views

6:13PM
Pig power science yields good results in NZ and overseas An innovative biogas system, developed at NIWA Hamilton, has been embraced by the Australian pork industry. 283 views

5:56PM
Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclone Outlook: Average or below average activity for most islands during the late season, but near normal number of total named storms for the region New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and New Zealand MetService have issued a tropical cyclone outlook on behalf of collaborating organisations from the southwest Pacific, including Australia, the USA, the Pacific Island National Meteorological Services, French Polynesia, and New Caledonia. 246 views

4:34PM
Our Far South voyage sets sail Fifty intrepid travellers set off from Bluff tomorrow, onboard the Spirit of Enderby, a Russian ice-strengthened ship, destined for Antarctica and the sub-Antarctica. 276 views

3:28PM
International experts set sail to see how the ocean creates clouds Next week, NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa will set sail for the Chatham Rise, for an international study of how microscopic organisms in the surface waters may affect the creation of clouds. 196 views