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Overview of resilience of the atmosphere
2016 Report Content2016 Atmosphere Resilience Climate The Atmosphere report considers both the resilience of the climate system itself and the resilience of our society to climate change. Our planet is somewhat resilient to increasing...
Resilience of our climate
2016 Report Content2016 Climate Resilience The ability of the climate system to recover from changes to the composition of the atmosphere (particularly increasing CO2 concentrations) is complicated by the fact that the removal of CO2...
Resilience of Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceOur planet is somewhat resilient to increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) levels because atmospheric CO2 is absorbed by the oceans. During recent decades, the oceans have taken up approximately 25 per cent of the annual anthropogenic CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. However, the...
Pressures affecting Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceGreenhouse gases (GHGs)—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, short-lived tropospheric and stratospheric ozone, nitrous oxide and synthetic GHGs—together with water vapour, and natural and industrial aerosols, influence Earth’s energy balance. Human activity, primarily the burning of...
The oceans have somewhat mitigated the effects of emissions
2016 Key Finding2016 The oceans absorb CO2 and heat, and thus limit the rate and immediate extent of changes in climate. In recent decades, the oceans have taken up around 25 per cent of the annual anthropogenic (human) CO2 emissions. However, the capacity of the oceans to absorb CO2 is limited, because...
Risks to the Antarctic environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAs for other regions, distant human activities can contribute to the key risks to the Antarctic environment, including global population, economic pressures and the effects of climate change. Management can mitigate many of the population and economic impacts, and climate change...
Trends in emissions
2016 Report Content2016 Climate Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Absolute aggregate emissions Between 1990 and 2015, Australia’s national GHG inventory suggested that emissions...
Emissions continue to contribute to climate change
2016 Key Finding2016 Australia’s emissions of CO2 per person in 2013 were nearly twice the average of countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, reflecting Australia’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels as a primary energy source, particularly the use of coal in the production of...
Motor vehicles
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Risks Motor vehicles are a significant source of anthropogenic CO2 emissions in Australia, comprising some 90 per cent of transport CO2 emissions, which made up 17 per cent of Australia’s net...
Outlook for the Antarctic environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceCurrently, the Antarctic environment is still in a comparatively good condition. However, the pressures on the continent and the surrounding ocean will increase. For example, the extraction of marine resources is not only going to continue but will intensify in the future. Most...
Outlook for Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceThe outlook for Australia’s climate depends on the effectiveness of international and national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Without mitigation, surface temperature increases of 3.7–4.8 °C above 1850–1900 temperatures are projected. To remain below 2 °C warming above...
Figure ATM25d Timeseries of monthly mean concentrations of carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide equivalent and tropospheric ozone; monthly median particle number concentration; and monthly median aerosol optical depth at 868 nanometres at Cape Grim under ...
2016 Graphd Monthly median aerosol optical depth at 868 nanometres at Cape Grim, 1996–2015 Monthly median aerosol optical depth at 868 nanometres at Cape Grim, 1996–2015 MonthlymedianAerosolOpticalDepth(AOD) 01/19860.076446957 02/19860.06693375 03/19860.053308571...
Overview of effectiveness of management of the atmosphere
2016 Report Content2016 Atmosphere Effectiveness of management Australian Capital Territory Climate There has been a major development in international cooperation to address the global issue of climate change,...
Australia’s emissions in context
2016 Report Content2016 Climate Pressures Greater Brisbane Greater Darwin Greater Hobart Greater Melbourne Although Australia’s emissions in...
Figure ATM9 Australia’s tracking against the Kyoto Protocol target
2016 GraphAustralia's tracking against the Kyoto Protocol target, commitment period 1 Australia's tracking against the Kyoto Protocol target, commitment period 1 Emissions (Mt CO2-e) 2008582.7 2009570.8 2010565 2011553.6 2012554.6...
Resilience of the Antarctic environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAlthough organisms living in Antarctica have evolved to cope with severe events, it is challenging to measure their level of resilience and to predict how future climate change will affect Antarctic ecosystems. This is largely because our understanding of key parameters is still...
‘Human influence on the climate system is clear’
2016 Key Finding2016The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made this statement in its most recent report (Stocker et al. 2013a). The IPCC’s role is to review, assess and synthesise the latest information on climate change. Concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere have...
Overview of state and trends of the atmosphere
2016 Report Content2016 Atmosphere State and trends Climate What has changed since 2011? Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions per person decreased from 24.1 tonnes in 2011 (DCCEE 2012) to 22.2 tonnes in 2015 (DoE 2016a), although they...
Pressures on the marine environment
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment Pressures Antarctica The water chemistry of the Southern Ocean appears to be changing at a faster rate than previously estimated, particularly in the deep ocean...
Figure ATM8b Australia’s annual emissions (a) per person, and (b) per dollar of real gross domestic product
2016 Graphb Annual emissions per dollar of real gross domestic product, Australia, 1990–2015 Annual emissions per dollar of real gross domestic product, Australia, 1990–2015 Emissions per dollar of real GDP (kg CO2-e) 19900.71 19910.69 19920.66 19930.62 19940.62...
Figure ATM11 Greenhouse gas emissions by gas and sector, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounting, 2015
2016 GraphGreenhouse gas emissions by gas and sector, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounting, 2014–15 Greenhouse gas emissions by gas and sector, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounting, 2014–15 Carbon...
Direct (primary) effects of pressures on climate
2016 Report Content2016 Climate Pressures Greater Sydney The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology State of the climate 2014 (CSIRO...
Human influences on Antarctica
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment Pressures Antarctica As detailed in the Drivers report, the key drivers of environmental change are population and economic growth. Antarctica, as the only continent...
Kyoto Protocol targets
2016 Report Content2016 Climate Pressures As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, ratified in 2007, Australia committed to limiting increases in net GHG emissions to 108 per cent of its 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012. The National inventory...
Climate change is a key pressure on the Australian environment
2016 Report Content2016 Pressures Climate change is an increasingly important and pervasive pressure on all aspects of the Australian environment. Although our climate and its high natural variability from year to year have always been a major influence on the state...
Outlook for inland water environments 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceClimate and pests remain the largest pressures on our inland water environments. Climate variability and climate change, and associated changes in rainfall regimes, are the primary risks to inland water environments in both the short and long term. Efforts will need to continue to...
Effectiveness of management 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceClimate change is a global problem that will require coordinated international action by all countries. The Paris Agreement, to which 195 countries (including Australia) have agreed, aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-...
Drivers influencing the marine environment
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Introduction Drivers influencing the Australian environment are covered in detail in the Drivers report, and readers are encouraged to refer to that report. We briefly summarise the drivers...
The physical environment: The Southern Ocean
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment State and trends Antarctica The Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean is changing in ways that are likely to affect regional and global climate, and marine productivity (...
Pressures affecting Antarctic marine species
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAntarctic environment Pressures Pressures on the marine environment Antarctica Year...
