Transcript – Climate Information Explained 
Narrator: The Bureau of Meteorology compiles one of the world’s most comprehensive and highly regarded climate records. For more than 100 years the Bureau has collected temperature and rainfall data from monitoring stations placed in every type of environment across Australia. During that time we have provided weather forecasting and climate services. The Bureau’s climate monitoring, climate prediction and climate data services provide a clear picture of past, present and possible future climate conditions. 
Dr David Jones: Our climate data is used by a range of people from farmers, to commuters, emergency services and water managers. Most of our data is freely available on our website. 
Catherine Ganter: Extreme weather events put lives and property at risk. They can pose huge costs to the economy. Population growth, particularly in coastal areas and a changing climate will see these risks increase. 
Narrator: Short term forecasts and warnings issued by the Bureau, support emergency management services such as police and SES, fire agencies and local councils. Longer term seasonal climate outlooks and data such as grided daily, monthly and annual climate data are used to plan water resource management, fire management and agricultural activity. 
Dr David Jones: We also provide rainfall intensity, frequency, duration and return period data to engineers and planners to help them reduce severe weather impacts on towns and cities. 
N Primary producers are supported through the Bureau’s monitoring of drought conditions and long term shifts in rainfall. Heatwaves have enormous impacts on health. Roads, railways and power supplies are sometimes damaged. 
Catherine Ganter: The exceptional heat wave that affected south eastern Australia in January and February 2009 set records for day and night temperatures. It peaked with the Black Saturday fire on February 7. 
Narrator: In the following days, the Bureau analysed all data. This revealed a more extreme event than we’d previously seen in south east Australia. 
Dr David Jones: Comparing extreme conditions to past events helps us to provide information to help everyone better prepare for the future. 
Narrator: The Bureau’s climate data is a national treasure, building, managing and providing access to Australia’s climate record is one of our primary functions. Our online climate change tracker and climate change data sets are designed to help everyone understand our changing climate. 
Please visit our website to find out about more about climate information.