Sustainability Quiz 55: November 22 Climate Report

Sustainability Quiz 55:On 27th November, 2022, Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Environment and Water, launched the latest CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, 'State of the Climate 2022' report

Somewhat enigmatically, the latest climate report was launched and the day came and went with very little reporting or commentary on the report's contents. Even the minister herself took the position that "it shows what we already knew, to some degree – that extreme weather events are getting worse, our country is getting hotter and dryer, and when it does rain, the rain is more extreme."

AND YET - CONCENTRATIONS OF ALL THE MAJOR LONG-LIVED GREENHOUSE GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE CONTINUE TO INCREASE, WITH GLOBAL ANNUAL MEAN GREENHOUSE GASES REACHING 516 PPM. THESE ARE THE HIGHEST LEVELS ON EARTH IN AT LEAST TWO MILLION YEARS.

Given this minister is actually known to give a toss about climate change, it's interestesting that we we seem to have passed 1.5°C warming (since 1910) and the fact has rolled on past like tumbleweed (or these days, more likely, micro-fibre.)

Key Points from the report for Australia

Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910 and:

• Sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.05 °C since 1900. This has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events over land and sea
• There has been a decline of around 15 per cent in April to October rainfall in the southwest of Australia since 1970. Across the same region, May to July rainfall has seen the largest decrease, by around 19 per cent since 1970
• In the south-east of Australia, there has been a decrease of around 10 per cent in April to October rainfall since the late 1990s
• There has been a decrease in streamflow at most gauges across Australia since 1975
• Rainfall and streamflow have increased across parts of northern Australia since the 1970s
• There has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and a longer fire season, across large parts of the country since the 1950s 
• There has been a decrease in the number of tropical cyclones observed in the Australian region
• Snow depth, snow cover and number of snow days have decreased in alpine
  
  regions since the late 1950s 
• Oceans around Australia have continued to become more acidic, with changes happening faster in recent decades 
• Sea levels are rising around Australia, including more frequent extremes that are increasing the risk of inundation and damage to coastal infrastructure and communities.

What can you do?

Read the report. Ed Husic's comments pretty much sum it up - and we know what to do:

"IT IS DIFFICULT READING, IN LARGE PART, SEEING THE LONGER-TERM TREND LINES ABOUT WHAT WE’RE WITNESSING WITH RESPECT TO THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE CLIMATE. 

AS HAS BEEN REMARKED BY OTHER PEOPLE, PARENTS DON’T LEAVE THE CLIMATE TO THEIR CHILDREN; THEY BORROW IT FROM THEM. THIS GIVES US A NEW PERSPECTIVE TO THINK ABOUT THE TYPES OF THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE."

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