Living with Climate Change

Climate change adaptation and impacts fact sheets for Australia

The Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Hennessey et al. 2007) reports with very high confidence that climate change has already occurred in Australia, with more heatwaves, fewer frosts, more rain in north-west Australia, less rain in southern and eastern Australia, an increase in the intensity of droughts and a rise in sea level. The potential impacts of climate change are likely to be substantial without adaptation.

The NCCARF Adaptation Research Networks have developed a series of fact sheets which give an overview of the likely impacts of climate change, and the potential for adaptation. There are nine factsheets, as follows:

1. Marine biodiversity and resources
2. Terrestrial biodiversity
3. Water resources and freshwater biodiversity
4. Primary industries
5. Settlements and infrastructure
6. Indigenous communities
7. Emergency management
8. Human health
9. Tourism

The factsheets are written to a common framework, covering the following topics:

• Current sensitivity and vulnerability to climate
• Likely future climate trends
• Key climate change impacts and vulnerabilities
• Social and economic impacts and how these will interact with climate change effects
• Adaptation practices, options and barriers and the associated costs.
• Research priorities

Each factsheet contains information on the contribution the Networks make to build our capacity to address adaptation research needs.