Australian impacts of climate change

Climate change is set to have a major impact on Australia, if it continues unchecked. Some local costs are projected to include:

• More frequent and severe droughts. Higher temperatures caused by global warming create higher evaporation, exacerbating the effect of reduced rainfall in droughts. (1)
• More frequent and severe storms. A 1°C increase in average temperatures would be enough to see a 28 per cent increase in wildfires, a 143 per cent increase in catastrophic wildfires, and 300-year temperature events occurring every ten years. (2)
• Destruction of Great Barrier Reef. A combination of more frequent coral bleaching events caused by increasing sea temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing atmospheric CO2, damage from cyclones and possible river outflows may place much of the reef at risk. The Great Barrier Reef contributes $5 billion to Australia's economy. (3)
• No ski resorts. The Australian ski industry will cease to exist by 2070 if temperatures increase at the upper level of IPCC predictions. (4)
• Loss of Kakadu wetlands. A 1.2-3.1°C increase in global temperatures will increase sea levels and change rainfall patterns enough to severely reduce or displace Kakadu's freshwater wetlands. (5)
• Species extinction. Alpine mammals like the mountain pygmy possum are likely to become extinct with warming more than 1°C above 1990 levels. It is also estimated that 50 per cent of highland rainforest habitat in North Queensland will be lost with increases of 1.6-1.8°C, and frogs and endangered mammals in south western Australia will start to disappear above warming of 0.5°C. (5)
• More illness. There is a strong belief that projected climate changes will enhance the spread of some disease vectors, thereby increasing the potential for disease outbreaks (e.g. Dengue fever and Ross River virus). (6)
• Climate refugees. An estimated 68,350 Pacific Islanders will be exposed to coastal flooding by 2055 if sea levels rise at the medium level of predictions. (7)

References

(1) Karoly, Risbey, Reynolds, WWF paper, Global Warming Contributes to Australia's Worst Drought, 2003.
wwf.org.au/publications/drought_report.pdf
(2) Tony Coleman, IAG, The impact of climate change on insurance against catastrophes, 2002.
www.iag.com.au/pub/iag/media/shc/presentation-20021219.pdf
(3) Australian Greenhouse Office, 2003, Climate change - An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts.
www.greenhouse.gov.au/science/guide/index.html
(4) United Nations Environment Program, December 2003.
www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=362&ArticleID=4307&l=en
(5) William Hare, Assessment of Knowledge on Impacts of Climate Change - Contribution to the Specification of Art. 2 of the UNFCC, November 2003.
(6) Australian Greenhouse Office, 2003, Climate change - An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts. www.greenhouse.gov.au/science/guide/index.html
(7) Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing,, Human Health and Climate Change in Oceania: A Risk Assessment 2002.
www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubhlth-publicat-document-metadata-env_climate.htm