The proposed project will synthesis the climate change literature, both published and unpublished, to provide a database of ‘facts’ in a user-friendly and efficient form to underpin adaptation planning in Australia. The information will also be valuable in preparing the Australia and New Zealand chapter of the IPCC AR5. The Literature review will be carried out by researchers from CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship (CAF; Drs Poloczanska, Martin and Wang) and from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC; Drs Smith, Carter and Roiko) while the database application will be implemented under direction from Dr Dekeyser from the University of Southern Queensland.

All researchers from CAF and USC have extensive experience in climate impact and adaptation research in Australia and internationally across a range of disciplines including marine and terrestrial biodiversity, buildings and infrastructure and human health. In addition, they also are experts in collating and disseminating climate change facts in a concise, easily accessible format to address the needs of policy makers and the general public, such as the first Marine Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Report Card for Australia launched in 2009. This collaborative effort included contributions from over 70 authors, and is proving to be an outstanding communication tool for delivering information on climate change and climate adaptation to diverse audiences, from the general public to policy advisors. In summary, we bring to this literature review a proven track record in consolidating information on climate change from a large number of sources and stakeholders and delivering ‘facts’ on climate change in Australia in a format which is accessible to a wide range of audiences and is easily updated.

Specifically this project will deliver:

A report comprising concise ‘facts’ on climate change impacts drawn from a comprehensive search of the literature, and discussion with key experts with particular attention to material published since the IPCC Fourth Assessment completed its work.

‘Facts’ presented in user-friendly language in a web-ready format and key worded to allow searches of specific subjects, locations and times.