Environment and climate change

Sediment sampling

Sampling sediments in Yamba, New South
Wales, Australia.

Nuclear science plays a valuable role in helping us understand the history of climate change - and what the future may hold.

Climate change and water resource management are among the most contentious and concerning issues of our time. Humanity’s ability to understand, alleviate and adjust to climate change requires robust measurement and objective analysis. This is the role of science. Nuclear science provides additional benefits in that it allows us to explore the
world at the atomic level, thereby delivering unparalleled levels of detail and insights that are impossible using other techniques.

Nuclear techniques

A range of highly sensitive nuclear techniques and instruments are used by researchers within ANSTO's Institute for Environmental Research (IER) to study past climate patterns (with a special emphasis on the southern hemisphere), analyse natural water systems (to assist in water resource management), trace the sources of air pollution, examine human impacts on the environment, and research the environmental impact of nuclear operations and radioactive waste to ensure continued and improved safe management of nuclear technology.

ANSTO’s instruments, including the ANTARES and STAR accelerators, are among the best in the world for these kinds of studies, revealing unparalleled levels of detail, and information on what the Earth was like millions of years ago. All of ANSTO’s efforts are designed to solve problems and provide decision-makers with supporting information on how to manage our delicate water and land resources.