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

Showing 30 of 315 results

Approach - Antarctic environment 2016

2016
Antarctic environment
Report Content

2016 Antarctic environment Generally, limited data are available to assess many aspects of the Antarctic environment. This is largely a consequence of the remoteness and sparse habitation of the region. Specific information is available to assess...

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Australian Antarctic Program’s station environment: Contaminated sites and pollution

2016
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Antarctic environment State and trends Antarctica Contaminated sites and pollution Contaminated waste disposal is a product of past practices of Antarctic expeditions, and is referred to...

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Global importance of Antarctica

2016
Antarctic environment
Introduction
Report Content

2016 Antarctic environment Introduction Marine South West Marine South East Antarctica Although isolated from other continents, Antarctica is...

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Global climate change and climate variability

2016
Biodiversity
Pressures
Report Content
... and territory SoE reports note the adverse effects of global climate change on biodiversity. These increasingly ...
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Figure BIO1 Global biodiversity hotspots and World Heritage Areas in Australia

2016
Biodiversity
Introduction
Map

Interact with mapDownload as pngDownload dataset Note: Heard and McDonald Islands, Lord Howe Island Group and Macquarie Island are not shown.The Australian Fossil Mammal Site is a serial listing with sites at Naracoorte in South Australia and Riversleigh in Queensland Source:...

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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
... (Cape Grim BAPS), established in 1976 to monitor and study global atmospheric composition for trends as a result of ... stations of the World Meteorological Organization Global Atmospheric Watch Program. Located on the north-west ... air samples, underpinning many research papers on global and Australian emissions of greenhouse and ozone ...
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Sustained ocean monitoring

2016
Marine environment
Outlook
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Outlook Great Barrier Reef Responding to a changing and increasingly modified environment, especially one where directing or modifying the trajectory of change is...

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Figure ATM24 Global surface air temperature changes, 2071–2100, relative to 1981–2010, using a low-emissions to moderate-emissions scenario

2016
Climate
Effectiveness of management
Map

Interact with mapDownload as pngDownload dataset Figure ATM24 Global surface air temperature changes, 2071–2100, relative to 1981–2010, using a low-emissions to moderate-emissions scenario Understanding and research

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Effects of increased greenhouse gases

2016
Climate
Pressures
Report Content
... from Earth’s surface, causing an increase in the global (land and ocean) mean surface temperature of ... not occur evenly across the century—for example, average global temperatures did not increase between 1880 and 1910, ...
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Risks to the land environment 2016

2016
Land
Risks
At a glance

At a glanceThe predicted impacts of climate change pose the greatest risks to Australia’s land environment. These impacts include changes in the distribution and success of native species and ecosystems; the viability of some agricultural enterprises; and the impact of natural processes and...

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Global sea levels continue to rise, although patterns of sea level change across the Southern Ocean are variable because of regional differences in heat uptake and transport. The Southern Ocean continues to become warmer

2016
Antarctic environment
Key Finding

2016  Global sea levels are rising, but regional patterns and rates of change are variable because of particular modes of climate variability that influence heat uptake and transport. In the region from 35°S to 65°S, the upper Southern Ocean has warmed by 0.2 °C since the 1950s. This rate...

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Importance of biodiversity

2016
Biodiversity
Introduction
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Introduction Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Biodiversity is important to humans for many reasons. Biodiversity is also considered by many to have...

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State and trends of the terrestrial environment of Macquarie Island

2016, 2011
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Assessment summary

Antarctic environment State and trends The living environment: Marine and terrestrial Antarctica...

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Mitigating the drivers of environmental change

2016 Report Content

2016 Since the first SoE report in 1996, a great deal of effort has been focused on improving environment-related policies and associated management actions. However, these are often focused on reducing pressures on the environment. For example, Australia’s regulatory regime...

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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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Escalation of existing pressures

2016
Biodiversity
Risks
Report Content

2016 Biodiversity Risks It is inevitable that the impact of climate change will continue to increase, given current trajectories (see the Drivers and Atmosphere reports). The interaction of climate change with other...

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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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Atmosphere

2016
Coasts
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Coasts Pressures Greater Brisbane Great Barrier Reef Greater Sydney Indian Ocean Airborne emissions Australia’s...

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State and trends of the Southern Ocean

2016, 2011
Antarctic environment
State and trends
Assessment summary

Antarctic environment State and trends The physical environment: The Southern Ocean Antarctica...

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Marine debris

2016
Marine environment
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Pressures Within the marine environment, marine debris is sourced from both the land (rubbish flushed out to sea; see further detail on coastal pollution in the Coasts report) and marine...

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Antarctic environment: 2011–16 in context

2016
Antarctic environment
Introduction
Report Content
... the Antarctic environment has continued to respond to global pressures from human activity. As is the case in other ...
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Toxins, pesticides and herbicides

2016
Marine environment
Pressures
Report Content
... to persist in the environment, and reach a long-term global equilibrium rather than decline ( Iwata et al. 1993 , ...
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Climate: 2011–16 in context

2016
Climate
Introduction
Report Content
As reported in SoE 2011, climate change continues to be a global problem. A major development since the 2011 report has been international cooperation to address the global issue, with 195 countries, including Australia, ... the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the increase in global temperatures to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. ...
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Risks

2016
Risks
At a glance

Even 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...

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Pressures affecting Antarctic fisheries

2016, 2011
Antarctic environment
Pressures
Assessment summary

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

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Biodiversity: Threatened species

2016
Coasts
State and trends
Report Content

2016 Coasts State and trends South West Coast North East Coast Tasmania Greater Brisbane Greater Darwin...

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Overview of effectiveness of management of the atmosphere

2016
Atmosphere
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 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,...

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In this report

2016
Land
Introduction
Report Content

2016 Land Introduction This report provides an account of the most significant and recent human impacts on our land. It highlights improvements in land management over some parts of Australia, as well as several...

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Box BIO20 The Bitterns in Rice Project—a crowdfunded satellite tracking program

2016
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Case Study
... 500 and 1000 bitterns—at least one quarter of the global population—arrives in the rice crops around ...
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Box LAN3 Bees—pressures and impacts

2016
Land
Pressures
Case Study

  Australia has an estimated 2500 species of native bee (Batley...

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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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