Climate Change Has ‘Irreversible Impact’

The Australian - Rosie Lewis

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced a bleaching event. Picture: Brian Cassey

A major independent review into the state of Australia’s environment has found climate change is placing an “increasingly important and pervasive pressure” on the nation and some of its impacts “may be irreversible”.

The state of the environment report, produced every five years independently of government, shows the country has faced a mix of improvements and challenges since 2011 but the “main pressures” — climate change, land use change, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and invasive species — remain the same.

The effects from humans were greatest in Australia’s more populated coastal areas and some urban “growth” areas, particularly in the southeast.

“Climate change is an increasingly important and pervasive pressure on all aspects of the Australian environment. It is altering the structure and function of natural ecosystems, and affecting heritage, economic activity and human wellbeing,” the report states.

“Climate change will result in location-specific vulnerabilities, and people who are socially and economically disadvantaged are most sensitive to climate change. Evidence shows that the impacts of climate change are increasing, and some of these impacts may be irreversible.”

The Department of Environment and Energy, which commissioned the report, lists profiles of its lead authors. They range from scientists at the CSIRO and Australian Antarctic Division to environment experts at the Australian Bureau of Statistics and marine ecologists.

Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, who concedes the government’s target of 23.5 per cent renewable energy generation by 2020 “will be quite a stretch”, said good news from the report included improvements in the ozone layer above the Antarctic, the protection of more indigenous areas, and the listing of more Australian places on the national and world heritage lists.

But he said climate change continued to be a “major challenge”.

“We’ve seen a bleaching event last year in the Great Barrier Reef and we’re concerned about further bleaching events and climate change and the El Nino effect causes for that,” Mr Frydenberg told ABC TV.

“We’re also seeing some real challenges with invasive species, particularly feral cats that prey on marsupials and birds and reptiles, many of which are on the endangered list.”

The report’s panel of independent authors, including environmental consultants, scientists and public servants, said a key challenge for the government was to produce an “overarching national policy that establishes a clear vision for the protection and sustainable management of Australia’s environment to the year 2050.

“Meeting these challenges requires: integrated policies and adaptive management actions that address drivers of environmental change and the associated pressures, national leadership, improved support for decision-making, a more strategic focus on planning for a sustainable future, new, reliable sources of financing,” the report says.

A “new and emerging” stress in coastal and marine zones was the “increasing amount of human litter”, with plastic making up about three-quarters of debris found along the Australian coast.

Grazing continued to be a “major threat” to biodiversity.

The authors adopt a mildly optimistic tone, saying with the right choices, policies, management and technologies Australia “has the capacity” to ensure economic prosperity and look after people’s health, education, social and cultural needs, while protecting the environment for future generations.

“Evidence shows that some individual pressures on the environment have decreased since 2011, such as those associated with air quality, poor agricultural practices, commercial fishing, and oil and gas exploration and production in Australia’s marine environment,” they say.

“During the same time, however, other pressures have increased — for example, those associated with coalmining and the coal-seam gas industry, habitat fragmentation and degradation, invasive species, litter in our coastal and marine environments, and greater traffic volumes in our capital cities.”

The Australian Conservation Foundation seized on the report, declaring the government needed to increase funding for conservation and environmental protection “by at least 400 per cent” if the “dramatic decline” of wildlife, reefs and forests was to be reversed.

“Our national anthem proudly says our land abounds in nature’s gifts, but based on this report we need to seriously question how much longer this will be the case,” the foundation’s CEO Kelly O’Shanassy said.

“This report documents how big polluters, mining companies and land clearers continue to greedily grab nature’s gifts – our forests, rivers, air and seas – and exploit them for profit.”

States and Trends of the Environment:

• Australian average temperatures have increased by 1C since 1910.
• Australian rainfall has been variable during the past 100 years, particularly the last 40 years, with declining long-term rainfall observed across much of southern Australia.
• Air quality is generally good in our urban areas, with some local areas of concern.
• Advserse human health impacts appear to occur at lower concentrations of air pollution than previously thought.

Links

• Full report: State of the Environment
• Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are rising and forecast to miss 2030 target
• Arctic sea ice could disappear even if world achieves climate target
• Josh Frydenberg insists Paris climate deal lives on, despite MPs' claims
• State of the Environment report: bright spots, but much more to do
• Emissions trading backflip a recipe for price rises, say business groups
• Josh Frydenberg backtracks on emissions trading comments
• Direct Action review: Coalition leaves carbon trading option open
• Great Barrier Reef progress report: We have to do better on water quality, says Australia
• Climate change: Australia falling behind rest of world on emissions cuts, says report