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

Showing 30 of 352 results

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
Climate
Graph

d 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...

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Australia’s emissions in context

2016
Climate
Pressures
Report Content
... Australia’s emissions in 2015 of 541 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent 2 (MtCO 2 -e) appear small alongside the most ...
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Figure ATM25a Monthly mean concentrations of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalent at Cape Grim, under baseline wind conditions, 1976–2015

2016
Climate
Graph

a Monthly mean concentrations of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalent at Cape Grim, under baseline wind conditions, 1976–2015 Monthly mean concentrations of carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalent at Cape Grim, under baseline wind conditions, 1976–2015...

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Trends in emissions

2016
Climate
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Climate Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Absolute aggregate emissions Between 1990 and 2015, Australia’s national GHG inventory suggested that emissions...

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Figure ATM28 (bottom) resultant calculated savanna burning emissions in pre-project baseline period (1995–2004) and project period (2005–11), where horizontal lines represent mean emissions for respective periods

2016
Climate
Graph

Application of Australia's savanna burning emissions methodology to the West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project area: emissions Application of Australia's savanna burning emissions methodology to the West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Project area: emissions...

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Box ATM7 West Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project

2016
Climate
Resilience
Case Study
... would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions because carbon stored in dead fuels increases, and because carbon and ... recycled to the atmosphere as greenhouse-neutral carbon dioxide and nitrogen through biological processes. To test ... emissions by around 0.6 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year ( Russell-Smith et al. 2013 ). ...
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Understanding and research

2016
Climate
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Climate Effectiveness of management Tasmania Greater Melbourne In the 5 years since SoE 2011, international climate science has advanced significantly. The IPCC,...

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Box ATM5 Cape Grim: monitoring the health of the global atmosphere for 40 years

2016
Climate
Effectiveness of management
Case Study
... ozone depleting substances, aerosols including black carbon, reactive gases including tropospheric ozone, nitrogen ...
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Motor vehicles

2016
Ambient air quality
Risks
Report Content
Motor vehicles are a significant source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in Australia, comprising some ... which made up 17 per cent of Australia’s net CO 2 -equivalent emissions in 2015 (see ‘Sectoral emissions’). ...
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Pressures affecting Australia’s climate 2016

2016
Climate
Pressures
At a glance

At 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...

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Figure ATM11 Greenhouse gas emissions by gas and sector, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounting, 2015

2016
Climate
Graph

Greenhouse 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...

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Resilience of our climate

2016
Climate
Resilience
Report Content

2016 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...

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‘Human influence on the climate system is clear’

2016
Atmosphere
Key Finding

2016The 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...

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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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Planning and strategy

2016
Climate
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Climate Effectiveness of management South Coast An important role of government is to develop effective policies, implemented through supporting strategies and plans. Emissions...

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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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Executive Summary - Atmosphere

2016
Atmosphere
Executive Summary

Atmosphere 2016Climate change is a global problem, and minimising its impact on the Australian environment will require coordinated international action by all countries. The Paris Agreement, to which 195 countries have agreed, aims to hold the increase in the...

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Risks to the Antarctic environment 2016

2016
Antarctic environment
Risks
At a glance

At 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...

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Figure ATM4 Carbon dioxide emissions per person, 2013

2016
Climate
Graph

Carbon dioxide emissions per person, 2013 Carbon dioxide emissions per person, 2013 Tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per person, 2013 OECD average9.579592706 Australia16.80269756 Source: OECD (2015) Figure ATM4 Carbon...

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Figure ATM7 Carbon dioxide emissions per US$1000, 2013

2016
Climate
Graph

Carbon dioxide emissions per US$1000, 2013 Carbon dioxide emissions per US$1000, 2013 Tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per US$1000, 2013 OECD average0.298623932 Australia0.43421713 Source: OECD (2015) Figure ATM7 Carbon...

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Nitrogen dioxide

2016
Ambient air quality
State and trends
Report Content
The major source of nitrogen dioxide in Australia is burning of the fossil fuels coal, oil ...
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Pressures affecting Antarctic marine species

2016, 2011
Antarctic environment
Pressures
Assessment summary

Antarctic environment Pressures Pressures on the marine environment Antarctica Year...

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Overview of state and trends of the atmosphere

2016
Atmosphere
State and trends
Report Content

2016 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...

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State and trends of the Antarctic atmosphere

2016, 2011
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Assessment summary

Antarctic environment State and trends The physical environment: The atmosphere—climate and weather patterns Antarctica...

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Climate change is a key pressure on the Australian environment

2016
Pressures
Report Content

2016 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...

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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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Figure ATM12 Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions by sector, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change accounting, 2015

2016
Climate
Graph

Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions by sector, 2015 Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions by sector, 2015 EnergyIndustrial processes and product useAgricultureWasteLand use, land use change and forestry Carbon dioxide 93.94.70.50...

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Figure ANT20 Annual estimated emissions of carbon dioxide for the Australian Antarctic Program, 2010–11 to 2014–15

2016
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Graph

Estimated annual emissions of carbon dioxide for the Australian Antarctic Program, 2010–11 to 2014–15 Estimated annual emissions of carbon dioxide for the Australian Antarctic Program, 2010–11 to 2014–15 StationsShippingAircraftTotal Antarctic emissionsTotal AAD...

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Figure ATM14 Carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and product use, and underlying drivers, 1990–2014

2016
Climate
Graph

Carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and product use and underlying drivers, 1990–2014 Carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and product use and underlying drivers, 1990–2014 Fuel combustion,...

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Figure ATM15 Annual change in carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and product use, and underlying drivers, 1992–2014

2016
Climate
Graph

Annual change in carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and product use, and underlying drivers, 1992–2014 Annual change in carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes and product use, and underlying drivers, 1992...

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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.

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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.

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