World Atmosphere & Climate Data

We measure gases that are added to the atmosphere through human activities. This does not include natural sources such as biological processes or volcanic emissions.

We report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) units, which is a measure for how much global warming a given type and amount of greenhouse gas causes, using the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide as the reference. CO2-e is used for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit, which allows them to be reported consistently.

Data may not include the latest emissions data, which can be found on the Ministry for the Environment’s website.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

We measure gases that are added to the atmosphere through human activities. This does not include natural sources such as biological processes or volcanic emissions.

We report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) units, which is a measure for how much global warming a given type and amount of greenhouse gas causes, using the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide as the reference. CO2-e is used for describing different greenhouse gases in a common unit, which allows them to be reported consistently.

Data may not include the latest emissions data, which can be found on the Ministry for the Environment’s website.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Potential evapotranspiration deficit (PED) can be thought of as a drought index. It is the difference between how much water could potentially be lost from the soil through evapotranspiration and how much is actually available. When PED is high, plants do not have the full amount of water available they need for growth. As our climate changes, increasing temperatures and rainfall pattern changes are expected to increase PED, and the frequency and intensity of drought, particularly in currently drought-prone regions.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Potential evapotranspiration deficit (PED) can be thought of as a drought index. It is the difference between how much water could potentially be lost from the soil through evapotranspiration and how much is actually available. When PED is high, plants do not have the full amount of water available they need for growth. As our climate changes, increasing temperatures and rainfall pattern changes are expected to increase PED, and the frequency and intensity of drought, particularly in currently drought-prone regions.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Potential evapotranspiration deficit (PED) can be thought of as a drought index. It is the difference between how much water could potentially be lost from the soil through evapotranspiration and how much is actually available. When PED is high, plants do not have the full amount of water available they need for growth. As our climate changes, increasing temperatures and rainfall pattern changes are expected to increase PED, and the frequency and intensity of drought, particularly in currently drought-prone regions.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Potential evapotranspiration deficit (PED) can be thought of as a drought index. It is the difference between how much water could potentially be lost from the soil through evapotranspiration and how much is actually available. When PED is high, plants do not have the full amount of water available they need for growth. As our climate changes, increasing temperatures and rainfall pattern changes are expected to increase PED, and the frequency and intensity of drought, particularly in currently drought-prone regions.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

This csv reports melanoma registration rates, per 100,000 population, by age. Age is grouped in 5 year segments (eg 0–4 years old, 5–9 years old).
New Zealand and Australia have the world’s highest rates of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer. Melanoma is mainly caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light, usually from the sun. New Zealand has naturally high UV levels, especially during summer.
The risk of developing melanoma is affected by factors such as skin colour and type, family history, and the amount of sun exposure. Melanoma can affect people at any age, but the chance of developing a melanoma increases with age. We report on age-standardised rates of melanoma to account for the increasing proportion of older people in our population.
Our data on melanoma registrations come from the New Zealand Cancer Registry and the Ministry of Health's Mortality Collection. The passing of the Cancer Registry Act 1993 and Cancer Registry Regulations 1994 led to significant improvements in data quality and coverage (Ministry of Health, 2013). A sharp increase in registrations after 1993 is likely to have been related to these legislative and regulatory changes; for this reason we have only analysed data from 1996.
2014–15 data are provisional and subject to change.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Growing degree days (GDD) measures the amount of warmth available for plant and insect growth and can be used to predict when flowers will bloom and crops and insects will mature. GDD counts the total number of degrees Celsius each day is above a threshold temperature. In this report we used 10 degrees Celsius. Increased GDD means that plants and insects reach maturity faster, provided that other conditions necessary for growth are favourable, such as sufficient moisture and nutrients. As a measure of temperature, GDD experiences short-term changes in response to climate variations, such as El Niño, and in the longer-term is affected by our warming climate.
Growing degree days (GDD) counts the number of days that are warmer than a threshold temperature (Tbase) in a year. GDD is calculated by subtracting the Tbase from the average daily temperature (maximum plus minimum temperature divided by two). If the average daily temperature is less than Tbase the GDD for that day is assigned a value of zero.
This dataset gives the trend in GDD over growing seasons (July 1 – June 30 of the following year) for 30 sites.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Growing degree days (GDD) measures the amount of warmth available for plant and insect growth and can be used to predict when flowers will bloom and crops and insects will mature. GDD counts the total number of degrees Celsius each day is above a threshold temperature. In this report we used 10 degrees Celsius. Increased GDD means that plants and insects reach maturity faster, provided that other conditions necessary for growth are favourable, such as sufficient moisture and nutrients. As a measure of temperature, GDD experiences short-term changes in response to climate variations, such as El Niño, and in the longer-term is affected by our warming climate.
Growing degree days (GDD) counts the number of days that are warmer than a threshold temperature (Tbase) in a year. GDD is calculated by subtracting the Tbase from the average daily temperature (maximum plus minimum temperature divided by two). If the average daily temperature is less than Tbase the GDD for that day is assigned a value of zero.
This dataset gives the trend in GDD over growing seasons (July 1 – June 30 of the following year) for New Zealand and the North and South Islands.
Trend direction was assessed using the Theil-Sen estimator and the Two One-Sided Test (TOST) for equivalence at the 95% confidence level
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Forest carbon stocks and areas, including stock changes, areas, and deforestation.
New Zealand’s indigenous and exotic forests absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store the carbon as biomass and in the soil. On average, more than twice as much carbon per hectare is stored in New Zealand’s mature indigenous forests than in exotic forests planted for wood production. Regenerating indigenous forests are also an important store of carbon, adding carbon every year as they grow. Total carbon stored in exotic forests will fluctuate over decades as the forests grow from seedlings to mature trees, are harvested, and replanted. Because CO2 is the major driver of climate change, forests provide important mitigation services and help New Zealand meet its climate change commitments.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.