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Historic Content you are reading content from a previous reporting year.

Showing 30 of 266 results

Box BIO16 National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Case Study
The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) was established in 2008 ... including 1 international and 3 national conferences for adaptation researchers and practitioners. Three of the ... are to: deliver effective knowledge transfer from the adaptation research community to policy agencies and ...
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Role and coordination of different levels of government

2016
Climate
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Climate Effectiveness of management Greater Adelaide Australian Capital Territory Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney...

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Overview of resilience of the atmosphere

2016
Atmosphere
Resilience
Report Content

2016 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...

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Resilience of the marine environment 2016

2016
Marine environment
Resilience
At a glance

At a glanceResilience can be considered to be the capacity of a system to keep functioning even when disturbed. Current understanding of the resilience of Australia’s marine environment is limited because of the vast spatial extent of Australia’s marine ecosystems, their complexity, the many...

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Climate-resilient pathways are needed to protect society

2016
Atmosphere
Key Finding

2016  Resilience of a society to climate change is dependent on the sensitivity of the society to change and its capacity to adapt to change. People who are socially and economically disadvantaged are the most sensitive to climate change. Resilience through adaptation may involve...

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Figure BIO34 Expenditure by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy on climate change research programs, 2012–13 to 2015–16, plus forward estimates

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Graph

Expenditure by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy on climate change research programmes (2012/13 to 2015/16) Expenditure by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy on climate change research programmes (...

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Resistance to change

2016
Coasts
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Coasts Resilience Great Barrier Reef For ecological habitats, species and processes, strong resistance to change is often related to high biodiversity and healthy ecosystem function. High...

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Resilience of our environment and society

2016
Climate
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Climate Resilience South Coast South Australian Gulf Timor Sea Great Barrier Reef Marine North...

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Resilience

2016
Resilience
At a glance

Resilience is the ability of the environment to withstand or recover from a shock or disturbance. Although the concept of resilience was developed and is mainly used in relation to ecosystems, it is a valuable concept across the environment and in environmental management. Effective...

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Outlook for the Antarctic environment 2016

2016
Antarctic environment
Outlook
At a glance

At 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...

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Effectiveness of climate change management

2016, 2011
Climate
Effectiveness of management
Assessment summary

Climate Effectiveness of management Planning and strategyManagement outputs and outcomesUnderstanding and researchRole and coordination of different levels of government...

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Outlook

2016
Outlook
At a glance

In general, the outlook for Australia’s environment depends on our ability to effectively address the complex mix of drivers, pressures and risks discussed in this report. This mix can be addressed through: leadership effective engagement of the community and private sector continued...

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Outlook under an 'improved future' scenario

2016
Outlook
Report Content

2016 Outlook An ‘improved future’ scenario for Australia’s environment would see innovation in policy, technical and associated management approaches to: halt and reverse the decline in the environment, and the ecological processes that maintain...

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Executive Summary - Antarctic environment

2016
Antarctic environment
Executive Summary

Antarctic environment 2016This report mainly focuses on the environment of areas administered by Australia (the Australian Antarctic Territory, and the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands), subantarctic Macquarie Island (which is part of Tasmania)...

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Resilience of marine systems

2016
Marine environment
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Resilience Tasmania Great Barrier Reef The concept of resilience is not straightforward, with definitions varying across social and scientific...

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Managing for resilience

2016
Marine environment
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Resilience Great Barrier Reef Marine North Marine North West Marine South East Most management...

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Factors affecting resilience capacity

2016
Biodiversity
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Resilience Murray Darling Tasmania Multiple factors acting at various levels of organisation, from species to landscapes, will interact to determine...

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Effectiveness of marine management

2016, 2011
Marine environment
Effectiveness of management
Assessment summary

Marine environment Effectiveness of management Triage responses to changes resulting from pressuresCumulative impacts and management of multiple usesSustainability and sector managementEnvironment protection systemsEvaluation of...

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Outlook under a business-as-usual scenario

2016
Outlook
Report Content

2016 Outlook It is clear from SoE 2016 that some parts of Australia’s environment are not yet being managed sustainably. Although some uncertainties exist, assuming current trends continue and policies or management arrangements are not changed...

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Outlook for Australia’s climate 2016

2016
Climate
Outlook
At a glance

At 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...

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Global climate change and climate variability

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Pressures Tasmania All recent state and territory SoE reports note the adverse effects of global climate change on biodiversity. These increasingly include extreme weather, as...

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Increased extreme weather events

2016
Built environment
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Built environment Pressures Murray Darling North East Coast Timor Sea Greater Brisbane Greater Darwin...

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Water abstraction and interception

2016
Inland water
Risks
Report Content

2016 Inland water Risks Three factors contribute to the risk posed by increasing water abstraction and interception: the demands of a growing population increases in per-person water consumption for this population...

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Resilience of Australia’s climate 2016

2016
Climate
Resilience
At a glance

At 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...

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Resilience of biodiversity 2016

2016
Biodiversity
Resilience
At a glance

At a glanceResilience is a key underpinning principle of Australia’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2010–2030, as well as state and territory, and regional biodiversity strategies. The definition of resilience in biodiversity strategies and policies is still relatively ambiguous, and...

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Evidence of past resilience

2016
Biodiversity
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Resilience Much of Australia’s biodiversity is renowned for its ability to deal with massive ecosystem shocks (e.g. fire, extended periods of dry or wet, extreme weather events such as cyclones)....

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Effectiveness of management 2016

2016
Climate
Effectiveness of management
At a glance

At 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-...

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Management initiatives and investments

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Effectiveness of management Biodiversity funding NRM funding provides key measures that include many practical elements of protecting and sustainably managing biodiversity. For the past 30 years, the...

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Effectiveness of Antarctic environmental management

2016, 2011
Antarctic environment
Effectiveness of management
Assessment summary

Antarctic environment Effectiveness of management Management achievementsManagement processesGovernance Antarctica...

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Approach - Atmosphere 2016

2016
Atmosphere
Report Content
... polluted airsheds) and of society to climate change (via adaptation) and to degraded air quality. The assessment ...
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Australia State of the Environment 2016 has been prepared by independent experts using the best available information to support assessments of environmental condition, pressures, management effectiveness, resilience, risks and outlook.

This site is a major undertaking to improve the usability of SoE information. We are grateful for the support of users in our ongoing efforts to improve SoE reporting.  Please report problems with the site via our feedback page.

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Acknowledgment of Country

We, the authors, acknowledge the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community; we pay respect to them and their cultures and to their elders both past and present.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2017-2018

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