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Water quality
2016 Report Content2016 Inland water State and trends South East Coast South West Coast Murray Darling North East Coast Tasmania...
Increased extreme weather events
2016 Report Content2016 Built environment Pressures Murray Darling North East Coast Timor Sea Greater Brisbane Greater Darwin...
Ecological processes and species populations
2016 Report Content2016 Inland water State and trends South East Coast Murray Darling Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Lake Eyre...
Since 2011, the coast has experienced several extreme weather events, including cyclones, heatwaves and floods. Climate-related pressures of sea level rise, more frequent...
2016 Key Finding2016Since 2011, the coast has experienced several extreme weather events, including cyclones, heatwaves and floods. Climate-related pressures of sea level rise, more frequent severe storms, and subsequent erosion and recession of the shoreline are expected to become increasingly significant...
Risks to the built environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceExtreme weather and natural events are considered the largest risks to the built environment. The likelihood of occurrence of these events is considered ‘almost certain’, with the impacts variable, depending on the risk. Despite the assessment that the built environment is quite...
Resilience of the built environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceFor the built environment, resilience refers to the capacity of the built environment to retain or recover its structure, functions and amenity after experiencing shocks. Historically, Australian cities have coped reasonably well with disaster events such as storms or floods, and...
Box HER32 World Parks Congress 2014
2016 Case Study... agenda for protected areas. The congress was the largest event of its kind, bringing together people from all walks of life—rangers, ... the secretariat that helped deliver this international event. Business Events Sydney estimated that the value of the event ...
Climate extremes have resulted in widespread coral bleaching, habitat destruction and species mortalities in the past 5 years
2016 Key Finding2016One of the strongest recorded La Niña events (2010–12), superimposed on overall increasing water temperatures, led to widespread bleaching of corals, loss of kelp forests, fish and invertebrate deaths, and changes in species distribution in western Australian marine environments. Also...
State and trends of Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAustralian temperatures have increased during the past 100 years, especially since the 1950s. This increase has also been observed at the global level, and is associated with increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The year 2015 was the warmest on record...
Risks to Australia’s climate 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAn understanding of the risks associated with Australia’s climate will lead to improved action plans to adapt to the changes predicted to occur. Our climate is a dynamic system; therefore, the risks need to be re-evaluated frequently. Recent climate change projections for...
Risks to inland water environments 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceRisks to inland water environments include direct risks (such as direct water extraction, or changes in run-off and recharge) and indirect risks (such as expansion of invasive species because of increased tourism). Climate changes may produce both types of risks. Updated climate...
National air quality standards
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality State and trends The NEPC established national ambient air quality standards in 1998 as part of the National Environment Protection Measure for Ambient Air Quality (Air NEPM). The Air NEPM sets...
Risks to heritage 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAustralia’s heritage continues to be under-resourced, and at risk from both natural and human factors. Some risks, such as catastrophic fire or extreme weather events, may not be easily mitigated, and instead may require post-event response. Events such as the removal of statutory...
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...
Pressures affecting the built environment
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryBuilt environment Pressures Increased extreme weather eventsIncreased sea levelsIncreased pollutionIncreased consumptionIncreased trafficIncreased urban footprintIncreased sea levels...
Box ATM8 Future air quality in Victoria project
2016 Case StudyWork from CSIRO and the Victorian Environment Protection Authority forecasted what air quality in Victoria might be like in the year 2030 (EPA Vic 2013). The project investigated changes between the base year–2006–and 2030, including predicting how the Victorian emissions might...
Atmosphere
2016 Report Content2016 Coasts Pressures Greater Brisbane Great Barrier Reef Greater Sydney Indian Ocean Airborne emissions Australia’s...
Pressures affecting the Antarctic environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceThe climate of Antarctica is changing. Compared with conditions prevailing in the 1950s, parts of West Antarctica—particularly the Antarctic Peninsula region—have warmed. In East Antarctica, where Australia operates, temperatures have also increased, but to a lesser extent. Across...
Land and water use and management
2016 Report Content2016 Inland water Risks Murray Darling Risks from changes to land management arise mainly through potential hydrological and water quality changes, whereas those from water management relate to...
Pressures affecting the coastal environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glancePressures on the coastal zone are strongly related to catchment land use and development. In urban areas, the intensity of pressures is generally correlated with human population densities. Australia has continued to increase in population since the 2011 state of the environment...
Marine environment: 2011–16 in context
2016 Report Content... on record, in 2010–12, and the strongest El Niño event since 1998, in 2015–16 (see Interannual and subdecadal variability ... and circulation associated with the La Niña event, superimposed on rising ocean temperatures associated with climate ...
Pressures affecting the built environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceA range of pressures on the built environment have a high or very high impact on livability, human health and/or urban environmental efficiency. Pressures from a growing population have a high impact on the urban footprint, because of a lack of coordinated and integrated urban...
Box BIO9 The letter-winged kite
2016 Case StudyAustralia is a country of boom and bust, and the previous state of the environment report in 2011 predicted that the extensive rainfall and floods in Australia in 2010–11 would lead to positive animal responses. However, the 2010–11 big wet in arid Australia did not see some...
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...
Global climate change and climate variability
2016 Report Content2016 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...
Pressures affecting Australia’s climate
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryClimate Pressures Direct (primary) effects of pressures on climateTrends in emissionsKyoto Protocol targetsAustralia’s emissions in contextIncreases in greenhouse gasesIndirect (secondary and tertiary) effects of pressures on...
Risks
2016 At a glanceEven after management actions and resilience are taken into consideration, some pressures can continue to pose a risk to the environment. Identifying and assessing the risk to the environment examines both the likelihood that the impact will take place and the severity of anticipated...
Pollution sources
2016 Report Content2016 Ambient air quality Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Pollution sources are often characterised as anthropogenic (i.e. human-made), biogenic (i.e. natural...
Australia’s marine environment is influenced by the cycles of several natural climate phenomena, including the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean Dipole and the Southern Annular Mode
2016 Key Finding2016 Variability in the phases of these climate phenomena change rainfall patterns, sea surface temperatures, surface winds and oceanic currents. These changes can influence the degree of vertical mixing through the water column and the relative location of cyclone events. Simultaneous...
Climate and system variability
2016 Report Content2016 Marine environment Pressures Tasmania Marine Temperate East Marine South West Great Barrier Reef Marine North...
