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Global importance of Antarctica
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment Introduction Marine South West Marine South East Antarctica Although isolated from other continents, Antarctica is...
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 Key Finding2016 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...
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...
Overview of state and trends of the Antarctic environment
2016 Report Content... of the Antarctic environment are changing in response to global pressures of human activity and climate change. These changes are ...
State and trends of the Southern Ocean
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAntarctic environment State and trends The physical environment: The Southern Ocean Antarctica...
Atmosphere
2016 Report Content2016 Coasts Pressures Greater Brisbane Great Barrier Reef Greater Sydney Indian Ocean Airborne emissions Australia’s...
Antarctic environment: 2011–16 in context
2016 Report Content... 2011, the Antarctic environment has continued to respond to global pressures from human activity. As is the case in other regions of the ...
Antarctica is warming, although changes in atmospheric circulation brought about by the Antarctic ozone hole have been a temporary mitigating factor that has reduced the overall amount of warming, primarily in summer
2016 Key Finding2016During the past half-century, western Antarctic surface temperatures have shown general warming trends, with significant regional patterns. Cooling of the lower stratosphere because of ozone depletion in spring and early summer has helped to mitigate the amount of warming during the...
The world is warming
2016 Key Finding2016 The year 2015 was the warmest on record for the globe. The shift towards higher temperatures has been associated with regional increases in the frequency, duration and intensity of extreme heatwaves.
Australia is warming
2016 Key Finding2016 Australian average temperatures have increased by 1 °C in the past 100 years, especially since the 1950s. The year 2013 was Australia’s warmest year on record, and the springs of 2013, 2014 and 2015 were Australia’s 3 warmest springs on record. Without mitigation, a surface...
Temperature
2016 Report Content... with mean surface air temperature showing around a 1 °C warming since then (Figure ATM17).
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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-...
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...
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...
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...
Effects of increased greenhouse gases
2016 Report Content... radiated from Earth’s surface, causing an increase in the global (land and ocean) mean surface temperature of 0.85 ± 0.20 °C from ... not occur evenly across the century—for example, average global temperatures did not increase between 1880 and 1910, or between 1940 and ...
The physical environment: The atmosphere—climate and weather patterns
2016 Report Content2016 Antarctic environment State and trends Antarctica The physical environment includes both the nonliving factors that characterise an ecosystem (e.g. weather patterns, ice coverage, the...
State and trends of the Antarctic environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceThe physical and chemical components of the Antarctic environment are changing. The Antarctic surface and lower atmosphere are warming, with the strongest temperature increases in the Antarctic Peninsula region and West Antarctica. Part of the warming is because of global...
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...
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...
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...
Direct (primary) effects of pressures on climate
2016 Report Content... GHG emissions continues in line with past trends, projected warming will be in the range of 2.2–5.0 °C. For low GHG emissions scenarios (which assume a significant reduction in global emissions in the coming decades), the projected increase is ...
The physical environment: The Southern Ocean
2016 Report Content... is changing in ways that are likely to affect regional and global climate, and marine productivity ( Rhein et al. 2013 ). The Southern ... & Johnson 2012 , Roemmich et al. 2015 ), although the warming is less than that observed in the Arctic Ocean ( Armour et al. 2016 ...
Global climate change and climate variability
2016 Report Content... state and territory SoE reports note the adverse effects of global climate change on biodiversity. These increasingly include extreme ...
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...
State and trends of the Antarctic atmosphere
2016, 2011 Assessment summaryAntarctic environment State and trends The physical environment: The atmosphere—climate and weather patterns Antarctica...
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...
Executive Summary - Atmosphere
2016 Executive SummaryAtmosphere 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...
Pressures affecting the marine environment 2016
2016 At a glanceAt a glanceAustralia’s marine environment is experiencing pressures from a wide range of sources that affect its habitats, communities, species and ecosystem functioning to varying degrees. With many pressures affecting the marine environment and its inhabitants at any one time, it can be...
Effectiveness of management for specific pressures and drivers
2016 Report Content2016 Effectiveness of management Earlier, we noted that the complex and dynamic relationships between drivers, pressures, ecosystems and humans call for policies and management actions that address both drivers and pressures. In many cases, the most...
