Climate Change In Australia Essay

The majority of scientific evidence suggests that over the last century humans have begun to have a discernible influence on the world's climate, causing it to warm. There is substantial evidence to indicate that significant global warming will occur during the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to dramatize the impact climate change could have on Australian society if we are unprepared for it. In discussing the future of the planet, climate change, caused by increased abundances of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, has been a serious cause of concern. Several studies have suggested that climate change can lead to mass-fatality disasters, international migration leading to tensions and conflict, resource shortages, infectious disease, terrorism and rising-sea levels and drought causing immense economic nuisances, all of which have the potential to harm Australia’s national security.

Corals build colonies that secrete calcium carbonate to form ocean reefs. When they're healthy, coral reefs provide shelter and food for animals all along the food chain, including the top: us. Across the planet, half a billion people rely, directly and indirectly, on corals for their living. That's why what happens to the 9,000-year-old Great Barrier Reef, as well as to other reefs worldwide, is critical. The floods in Queensland have hurt the Great Barrier Reef by funnelling into the ocean vast plumes of freshwater and agricultural runoff that could severely damage the coral. Besides the extreme rain that sparked the floods, rising ocean temperatures, changes to the ocean's chemistry and the global trade in natural resources — all symptoms of our fossil-fuel economy — are waging a multiform war on the marine

Everyone talks about climate change and how the Earth is slowly deteriorating, but no one seems to have specific examples. In Linnea Saukko’s “How to Poison the Earth,” she does use specific examples of what is causing climate change. She uses satire with a hint of sarcasm in her essay. She gives the reader specific examples of how to poison the Earth, but not really wanting to poison the Earth. Gretel Ehrlich writes her essay, “Chronicles of Ice,” a little differently. She uses personal experiences of visiting a glacier and the way that it is falling apart to explain climate change. She uses detailed, sensory description to explain

A warming ocean has already killed large chunks of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. On April 4, 2017, writer Eduardo Porter for The New York Times published an article called, “To Curb Global Warming, Science Fiction May Become Fact,” intended for the reader of the New York Times. The editorial talks about how if we don’t take action as soon as possible, climate change could indeed become a new thing. Scientist all over the world are discovering many areas throughout the planet that are increasing in temperature, and animals’ homes are being destroyed. The writer is able to create a better understanding on the dangers of a warming planet, by saying the earth is increasing in temperature all over the world, not only affecting different animals,

I have researched about climate change in Australia and take this as an example for the same situation of other countries. Australia is a unique and diverse country in every way – in culture, populations, climate, geography, and history. It is home to more than one million species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world, and less than half have been described scientifically. However, Australia is an exceptionally large polluter. It is the highest per person greenhouse gas polluter among all developed countries, the 15th highest overall polluter and our emissions are still rising. Most of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels for energy about 72%. When oil, gas or coal burns,

Climate change creates significant impacts in the Australian context: in considering sea level rise is one of the most critical condition and as per the IPCC report, in 2100 it will increase by79 centimeters (Department of climate change, 2009). Further, it enhances natural hazards affect on the coastal region as flood, inundation, erosion, and storm surges, which will be a significant threat to the coastal community (Button et al.2013). In addition, sea level rise causes a significant change to beaches, coral reefs, estuaries, wetlands and low-lying islands.

The article, Warming Bleaches Two-Thirds of Great Barrier Reef , talks about how Coral reef ecosystems around the world are threatened by human and climate change. The waters of the ocean are raising due to global warming, in turn

Coral reefs are natural formations that host around twenty-five percent of the world’s marine species, however, these reefs are majorly threatened (“Air”). The Great Barrier Reef in particular is an important marine location, home to major marine diversity with over 3,000 reefs over 1,400 miles (“Great” World Book). The Great Barrier Reef is a limestone formation made of coral polyps and algae, and lays off the coast of Queensland, Australia. For many years, this reef has been exposed to several threats. The threats facing the Great Barrier Reef include pollution, invasive species, and climate change.

Australia has Beautiful coasts, habitats and an abundance of land, climate change can destroy all of this. Climate change effects not just sea level rises but also weather patterns, global temperature, water quality and ecosystems. The threat of rising sea level is big *gestures towards power point* this image shows the Gold Coast when sea levels rise less than a meter; most of Carrara is underwater, not to mention all the areas where water might flow *power point gesture*. The climate also affect the oceans acidity and temperature which greatly affects the oceans ecosystem and our loved Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is classed as the largest living Earth, however the warm ocean temperatures are killing the algae that sustains the reef without it the reef will die. Many businesses rely on the reef to make a living, not to mention when the sea rises many homes will be lost all across Australia. If nothing is done about climate change, there will be repercussions within your lifetimes.

For over 25 million years, the Great Barrier Reef has lived off of the northeastern coast of Australia. The first human civilizations started around 5,000 years ago and industrialization of humans about 200 years ago (History of Humans, 2016). The human race’s timeline is just a small fraction in comparison to the reefs, but somehow humanity has managed completely derail mother nature in an incomprehensible amount of ways. Healthwise, the Great Barrier Reef is in the worst shape of its life and which just so happens to match ever so nicely with the rapid pandemic of global warming that has increased over the past couple of decades. The rise in air temperature is gradually increasing the ocean 's temperature as well which is causing colossal damage to Great Barrier Reef and reefs across the globe. If we do not take action immediately in reducing our planet’s rising temperature and ever increasing CO2, it will soon be too late to save this natural wonder as well as the countless organism that call it home.

The Australian Government acknowledge that ocean acidification is one of the highest risk factors to the Great Barrier Reef and have documented their plans to reduce this threat to the reef in the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015). The Australian Government and the Queensland Government are working in partnership to fund projects and apply laws that will sustain this World heritage area. These projects include the Green Climate Fund which targets emissions reduction and the $2.55 billion pledge towards the Emissions Reduction Fund which creates positive incentives to cut emissions (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015). However, only time and the continual monitoring of the reef by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will provide evidence of whether this funding will reduce ocean acidification to sustain the future of the

Climate change is quickly affecting many social and economic sectors, both directly and indirectly. This is particularly true within the natural habitat sector, as varying impacts on global biodiversity threaten the existence of many species world-wide. While many problems such as warmer temperatures and rising sea levels are attributed to increasing carbon dioxide (CO2), there is one crucial problem that is often overlooked: Ocean acidification. As pH levels in the ocean fluctuate, there are devastating effects on sensitive marine ecosystems and individual species. Increased acidic conditions can pose threats to habitats, such as coral reefs and sea grasses (Guinotte and Fabry 320). These living habitats rely on calcium carbonate to form strong external structures, yet higher pH levels inhibit the organisms’ ability to successfully absorb the compounds needed for this process. Additionally, higher levels of ocean acidification can induce decreases in skeletal-forming compounds, diminishing entire populations of small ocean organisms such as crustaceans and phytoplankton (Doney). Therefore, it can be deduced that the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere cripple the marine wildlife ecosystems, because the addition of greenhouse gases, caused primarily by anthropogenic conditions, are acidifying the ocean and disrupting the bio-chemical compounds that are necessary for many marine species to survive.

One of the most obvious impacts of climate change would be the changes in weather factors.

A study of 29 locations across Australia’s coast showed that a 50 cm increase in sea level can change the likelihood of a high sea level extreme event to change from occurring once every few years, to every few days by 2100. At this stage the sea has already risen 19 cm, without further action Australia could be in serious danger by 2100. To put it simply for readers, on average Australia will experience roughly 300-fold increase in flooding events, meaning property and infrastructure that is currently being flooded once every 100 years, will be flooded several times per year if the sea level rises by 50 cm.

Global warming is a phenomenon leading to climate change. Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels releases large amounts of greenhouse gases. These gases absorb infrared radiation and cover the atmosphere. More and more infrared radiation is inside the Earth, which becomes warmer. This process is called global warming (Houghton, 2005). Australia is one of the countries, which is suffering from climate change. The average temperature of Australia has increased by 0.7°C since the past century. Average precipitation in the southwest and southeast in Australia will decrease in future decades, while northwest regions will increase in precipitation. Moreover, Australia’s coastlines will suffer from erosion and inundation because it is estimated that there will be an 8–88 cm increasing global sea level (Preston and Jones, 2006). Owing to climate change, Australia’s biodiversity, ecosystems, and natural habitats are destroyed. For example, the habitat of the Great Barrier Reef and coral communities are disappearing (Preston and Jones, 2006). Owing to the effects and it is energy crisis in the future, exploring the renewable energy source feasibility and sustainable development is necessary. Therefore, in the long term, the potential of wind energy and solar energy could be the answer to global warming in Australia and determine the current barriers to renewable energy in terms of the energy industry and the locations in Australia.