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2016 State of the Climate Report details increasing impacts of global warming on Australia
The fourth biennial State of the Climate report by the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO was released yesterday. It shows the accelerating impacts of global warming on our country and paints a worrying picture of the future as those impacts bite even harder. It also shows that levels of severity vary significantly across different areas of Australia.
Temperature averaged across the country has risen by around 1°C since reliable records began in 1910, but about half the country has experienced rises above 1° to over 1.5° while a corresponding area is below 1°. The length, duration and intensity of extreme heatwaves has increased across large areas, bringing with them more bushfires and a longer bushfire season, especially since the 1970s. Both heatwaves and bushfires are forecast to increase, with fires worsening significantly in southern and eastern Australia.
May to July rainfall in southwestern Australia has dropped nearly 20% since the 1970s, while there has been a steady decline of over 10% in April to October rainfall in southeastern Australia during the past 20 years. These periods coincide with growing seasons in both areas, and unfortunately rain is projected to continue to decline and drought periods to lengthen in these areas. Northern Australia, conversely, is showing increased rain in some areas since 1970.
Seas and oceans are absorbing the lion's share of greenhouse gas heat on the planet and consequently expanding, raising sea levels and causing more coastal erosion during storm surges and high tides. Our seas are becoming more acid, progressively impacting on marine ecosystems. At this stage, species that produce calcium carbonate, such as corals and shellfish, are most at risk. Rises in sea levels and acidification are also projected to increase.
The BoM/CSIRO State of the Climate Report is presented here on the Bureau's website with information spread across several tabs and in three short videos. You can also download the full 23-page report which makes prolific use of graphs and maps to convey a lot of detail very simply.
If you're looking for even more substantial information resulting from this BoM/CSIRO study, go to the Climate Change in Australia website. The Regional Climate Change Explorer here lets you drill down to smaller areas called sub-clusters. Going into even more detail is the Data Explorer, which presents climate change and forecast data at basic, intermediate and advanced levels. Use the dropdown menu under the Explore Data tab to get to it. And there's help and training in using and understanding the data if you feel you're getting out of your depth.
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