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I created this climate map based on the Koppen Climate Classification map. In this scenario Australia is moved 10 degrees of latitude further south and the Lake Eyre basin is filled (shown in map.) Is this an accurate representation of the resulting climate?

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  • $\begingroup$ Are the oceanic currents changed or not? $\endgroup$
    – L.Dutch ♦
    Sep 30, 2017 at 11:09
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    $\begingroup$ Hi VenusUberAlles. I really don't feel that it's reasonable to potentially have one tag for every country on Earth, so I removed [australia] from your question and replaced it with [earth-like], which is our well-established tag for questions that deal with planet Earth as we know it with some specific change. That, plus the other tags now left (your intended usage for [biome] here seems to be covered by [climate] and [weather]), seem to me to sufficiently narrowly categorize your question. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Sep 30, 2017 at 12:38
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    $\begingroup$ Hi, maybe you could post your question here earthscience.stackexchange.com as well? I think they might be able to help. I've found some helpful info on there. $\endgroup$
    – shieldedtulip
    Sep 30, 2017 at 13:43
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    $\begingroup$ The probability that you have successfully determined the exact resulting climate is so incredibly small. There are a lot of factors at play. Any computer model will depend on additional inputs which, changed even slightly, will result in a different model. And that computer model, is still, at best, a model. $\endgroup$
    – azoundria
    Sep 30, 2017 at 20:03

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Moving any continent, even just the size of Australia, would have unforeseen consequences to wind and heating patterns, and subtle changes to the jet stream, so it is very difficult to tell without running a computer simulation.

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From my understanding, current Australian climate zones are heavily influenced by the Great Dividing Range. Its effects don't appear to be playing much of a role in your model. Your predictions might be good for the Eastern seaboard, but I would expect the rain shadow over Central Australia to still be present and significant.

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  • $\begingroup$ OK, I changed it. Would a filled lake Eyre keep areas west of it irrigated or would it not do much. $\endgroup$
    – VenusUberAlles
    Oct 3, 2017 at 2:47
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    $\begingroup$ It's all very salty as it's an evaporative zone. Not sure how suitable any water from there would be for irrigation without desalination. I think the answer you want is in changed currents and winds. You can play with ocean currents to make them more dominant. Maybe set it up so you get multiple troughs coming down from the North and swinging East, warming the Arafura and Timor Seas might work $\endgroup$
    – Bert Olio
    Oct 4, 2017 at 2:58

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