23/08/2021

(AU ABC) Climate Change Means More Floods, Fires And Heatwaves. Some Communities Are Already Adapting

ABC Radio National - Cathy Van Extel

Queensland's Logan City has been recognised for its urban greening efforts, including planting more trees. (Supplied: Logan City Council)
Climate scientists have warned Australia that it must pick up the pace on its climate adaptation efforts.

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, described as a "code red" for humanity, has forecast global warming will likely hit 1.5 degrees Celsius by about 2035 if nothing changes.

However, Australia's land areas have already warmed by about 1.4C since 1910, according to the report.

IPCC vice chairman and director of the Australian National University Climate Change Institute Mark Howden says adaptation needs a greater focus.

"We are actually heading towards this very, very quickly and we do really need to start thinking and considering ... action, not just in terms of emission reduction but also in terms of adaptation for those futures we can't avoid at this point."

IPCC report and Australia

The IPCC defines adaptation as "the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects". The goal is to take steps to protect communities and reduce their vulnerability to the harmful effects of climate change.

There is concern Australia is well behind in its efforts to adapt to the effects of more intense and frequent weather events, according to Sarah Boulter, associate professor in Climate Adaptation at the University of Tasmania.

"There's been a lot of discussion about where climate change is going and where our responsibilities lie in terms of mitigation and it has put a bit of a shadow over the ability to think clearly around adaptation," she says.

There are signs of a shift though. "In the past 12 to 18 months, there really has been, certainly at the federal level, a real effort to start changing that conversation," she says.

Indeed the federal government is currently developing a new National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy ahead of the Glasgow Climate Summit, which begins in late October.

But Professor Boulter says the IPCC report has made it clear that it's time to act.
"The longer time goes on, the harder it becomes to decide what it is we're going to do and how much work we have to do.
"So I think for Australia we are really at a critical point, we need to start getting on the ground and taking some action."

So who's thinking ahead and taking action? Across the country, there are many interesting and innovative approaches to adaptation already underway.

Thinking outside the box

Heavy rainfall, river floods and bushfires are projected to worsen across Australia.

In March 2021, New South Wales experienced its worst flooding in six decades.

On the NSW Mid North Coast, elderly residents at the Dunbogan Caravan Park were stranded by floodwaters rising faster and higher than expected.

Elderly residents at NSW's Dunbogan Caravan Park were stranded by floodwaters in March 2021. (Supplied: Ritchie Villages)

And in 2019 many of those residents, most of whom are vulnerable pensioners, were forced to evacuate as bushfires narrowly missed the caravan park.

Owner Cicely Sylow has engaged an architect and engineers to design a unique fire-resistant floating home that could replace the current mobile buildings in the caravan park.

"We have really elderly people who don't want to be in homes that are 3 metres above the ground given the amount of stairs you would need to climb to get into your home every day," she says.

"So we are looking at a home that could be .... close to ground level that could respond to a flood event by floating ... and would be constructed with bushfire resistant materials and design."

James Davidson, from climate adaptation architectural firm JDA Co, is looking at ways to float the cheap, portable homes found in caravan parks that are not typically flood resilient.

Architects are trialing a floating home that could be installed at Dunbogan Caravan Park in NSW. (Supplied: Ritchie Villages)

"The idea is not to allow people to stay during a flood, they've got to evacuate — but if they do get caught, then hopefully they will be safe."

Davidson was inspired by floating portable homes on the Mississippi River in the US.

"It's been done before so it's not a totally crazy idea. We've just got to get the engineering right."

Innovative ideas like this can make a big difference, according to Professor Boulter.

"There's always that question of whether we should be living in certain places or not, but there are certainly some building design things that can be done to manage the risks from extreme events," she says.

Investor concern

Brisbane Airport's second runway, which opened last year, was one of the largest aviation construction projects undertaken in Australia.

Brisbane Airport's new runway was built with climate adaptation in mind. (Supplied: Brisbane Airport)
Like most of the nation's airports, it is based on the coast and is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including sea level rise, storm surge, inundation and rising temperatures.

Accordingly, the new runway was built 1.5 metres above the minimum regulatory requirements, channels were designed to reduce tidal flooding, and a seawall was constructed to buffer large waves.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) project director Paul Coughlan, who oversaw the construction of the $1.1 billion second runway, says climate adaptation was incorporated into the design from the outset.

"For our board, climate change adaptation was a really critical requirement ...  I can't remember how many times I had to brief them and really convince them that their investment [was] a good investment," he says.

Now BAC is assessing its older airport infrastructure, while the implementation of the climate adaptation work has attracted interest from other domestic and international airports.

Professor Boulter says the design life of most transport infrastructure — airports, ports, roads, rail and bridges — will be impacted by climate change.

"If it was meant to last for 80 years, under increasing climate change it might only be fit for purpose for 60 years," she says.

"There's an economic problem then." 

Green cities

Climate change is making heatwaves longer, hotter and more likely. They are also becoming more dangerous.

According to the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), heat stress kills more Australians than all other natural disasters combined.

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For example, in the 2009 heatwave in South Australia and Victoria, 500 deaths during that period were attributed to heat stress. One of the key ways to counter the effects of climate change and make our cities more liveable as temperatures rise is through urban greening, says GBCA chief executive Davina Rooney.

She points to studies in Western Sydney that show that having more trees in a street can lead to temperatures 10C lower.

Professor Boulter agrees. She says finding new ways for urban areas to stay cool is a critical part of how we adapt to extreme temperatures.

Queensland's Logan City, south of Brisbane, has been recognised for its urban greening efforts. They increased the city's tree canopy by 12 per cent, going from 41 per cent in 2016 to 53 per cent in 2020. 

Brisbane's Urban Forest is a high rise apartment block covered in native plants. (Supplied: Aria Property)

Deputy Mayor Jon Raven says the city has made climate resilience a priority.

"The way the community sees that is by more tree canopy, more trees planted and having an environment which feels natural and welcoming, rather than just being a concrete heat sink," he says.

Sydney company Junglefy is famous for its breathing walls and rooftop gardens, both great examples of urban greening.

Owner Jock Gammon explains that plants can reduce the urban heat island effect — in which hard surfaces absorb heat during the day and release it in the evening.

"It requires a lot of energy to cool that air back down, and typically our cities are four to seven degrees hotter than the surrounding bushland," he says.

"The plants stop those hard surfaces from heating up and they also release moisture.

"If you think of those leafy suburbs, they are always cooler and more inviting than some of those newer suburbs that don't have that green canopy."

Logan City has been recognised for its urban greening efforts including numerous tree plantings. (Supplied: Logan City Council)

There are other good examples, says Rooney, including Brisbane's Urban Forest project which will plant 1,000 trees and 20,000 native plants, and a plan by City of Melbourne to plant 3,000 street trees with an aim to lower the temperature by 4C.  

"But there's a huge opportunity for us to increase the number of trees," she says.

Protecting coastal communities

Australia's 36,000 kilometre of coastline is home to the vast majority of the population. It's also under threat from climate change.

The Australian Coastal Councils Association (ACCA), which has 200 members, is calling for a coordinated national approach to managing the impacts of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, storm surges and riverine flooding.

Coastal properties, like the Bowen Golf Course, are tackling the threat of rising sea levels. (Supplied: Whitsundays Climate Change Innovation Hub)

In a recent member survey, 90 per cent of the 100 respondents had been impacted by coastal erosion hazards in the past five years.

ACCA chief executive Alan Stokes says coastal management is largely being left to local councils — the least resourced of all levels of government — and some are struggling. 

"We heard of one small council in South Australia that was spending more than 30 per cent of its budget on coastal management. Now that's just unsustainable," he says.

For some communities, the only option will be a managed retreat, one of the few adaptation responses available. 

Retreat is an emotionally charged and politically difficult option. It also raises vexed questions of who pays.

The small Tasmanian beach town of Snug, 30 kilometres south of Hobart, is facing such a prospect.

The Tasmanian community of Snug may need to investigate a managed retreat as sea levels rise. (Supplied: Kingborough Council)

Kingborough Council environmental manager Jon Doole says modelling predicts the area will be inundated by 2100 and difficult decisions will have to be made.

"What we've got to work out is what may be the future of those houses [under threat]. Can they be protected or do we need to think about retreat?" he says.

He says the community will need to be consulted about the risk it faces. It will be a difficult but important conversation. 

"In the upcoming year for Snug, we're really hopeful that we will get a grant that we've applied for that will really help us put more resources into having community forums."

Professor Boulter says there has been a lot of good planning by councils but there is only so much that can be done to preserve the coastline.

"If we want to protect our coastline, then we have to make decisions that are very expensive and are also likely to change [its] character," she says.

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