Since the mid-1970s the climatic changes that have taken place in southwest Western Australia have generated a variety of impacts, the most prominent of which is a reduction in dam inflows of at least 50 percent. These impacts were the catalyst for the formation of the Indian Ocean Climate Initiative in 1998, a research partnership between two national research organizations and several state government departments and agencies. This paper describes the key scientific findings of the Initiative with respect to the nature of the climatic changes that have taken place within the region, explores the factors that might have caused these changes, and describes the most recent climate projections for the region. We reflect on the factors leading to the rapid acceptance of the research outcomes from the Initiative, the impact of the Initiative on policy development across Australia and its likely evolution post-2006.

In this study, we explore the relationships between seasonal Australian rainfall and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). We produce two seasonal indices of the SAM: the Antarctic Oscillation Index (AOI), and an Australian regional version (AOIR) using ERA‐40 mean sea‐level pressure (MSLP) reanalysis data. The seasonal rainfall data are based on gridded monthly rainfall provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. For the period 1958–2002 a significant inverse relationship is found between the SAM and rainfall in southern Australia, while a significant in‐phase relationship is found between the SAM and rainfall in northern Australia. Furthermore, widespread significant inverse relationships in southern Australia are only observed in winter, and only with the AOIR. The AOIR accounts for more of the winter rainfall variability in southwest Western Australia, southern South Australia, western and southern Victoria, and western Tasmania than the Southern Oscillation Index. Overall, our results suggest that changes in the SAM may be partly responsible for the current decline in winter rainfall in southern South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania, but not the long‐term decline in southwest Western Australian winter rainfall. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society.

Analysis of the annual cycle of intensity, extent, and width of the Hadley circulation across a 31-yr period from all existent reanalyses reveals a good agreement among the datasets. All datasets show that intensity is at a maximum in the winter hemisphere and at a minimum in the summer hemisphere. Maximum and minimum values of meridional extent are reached in the respective autumn and spring hemispheres. While considering the horizontal momentum balance, where a weakening of the Hadley cell (HC) is expected in association with a widening, it is shown here that there is no direct relationship between intensity and extent on a monthly time scale.All reanalyses show an expansion in both hemispheres, most pronounced and statistically significant during summer and autumn at an average rate of expansion of 0.558 decade 21 in each hemisphere. In contrast, intensity trends are inconsistent among the datasets, although there is a tendency toward intensification, particularly in winter and spring.Correlations between the HC and tropical and extratropical large-scale modes of variability suggest interactions where the extent of the HC is influenced by El Niñ o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the annular modes. The cells tend to shrink (expand) during the warm (cold) phase of ENSO and during the low (high) phase of the annular modes. Intensity appears to be influenced only by ENSO and only during spring for the southern cell and during winter for the northern cell.

This meta-analysis has demonstrated that nutritional support supplemented with key nutrients results in a significant reduction in the risk of developing infectious complications and reduces the overall hospital stay in patients with critical illness and in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. However, there is no effect on death. These data have important implications for the management of such patients.