Climate Change in Australia: Regional Impacts and Adaptation – Managing the Risk for Australia

Climate Change in Australia: Regional Impacts and Adaptation – Managing the Risk for Australia Report

Report Prepared for the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, Canberra, June

• Author(s): Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council Independent Working Group,
• Published: 2007

Link to resource Report broken link

Abstract: Australian society is facing a major challenge There is overwhelming evidence that our climate has been changing over the past hundred years and will continue to change, not only in our lifetime but in our children’s lifetime as well. Climate change is a pervasive and critical issue for Australia. We know that Australia has warmed and so have the oceans around Australia. We also know that global greenhouse emissions will continue to drive changes in climate across Australia for the foreseeable future. Australia’s society and economy are exposed to climate change. What is happening in Australia is not happening in isolation. Warming across Australia broadly reflects what is happening in the rest of the world. Australia is fortunate in that we are better placed to adapt to climate change than many other countries. There is, however, no room for complacency in facing the challenge of climate change. The focus of this report is on what we can do to adapt to climate change. It focuses on six sectors (cities and coastal communities, water, health, agriculture, infrastructure and natural systems). Australia’s ability to adapt to short-term climate variability and extreme events serves as a starting point for addressing its vulnerability to climate change. In accordance with the Working Group’s terms of reference, the report does not address the other principal focus of Australia’s response to climate change: reducing our national emissions of greenhouse gases (emission mitigation).

• Urls: https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20070730041726/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/75222/20070730-1045/www.dest.gov.au/sectors/science_innovation/publications/profiles/Climatereport.pdf