These Topics are for the Climate section of the Atmosphere theme.

Topics for Ambient air quality

Climate

Increases in greenhouse gases

Human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels during the past 250 years, has caused well-quantified increases in the concentrations of GHGs in the atmosphere (Figure ATM1).
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
TasmaniaGreater BrisbaneGreater DarwinGreater HobartGreater Melbourne
Climate

Effects of increased greenhouse gases

The growing concentrations of human-generated GHGs have resulted in an increased absorption, largely in the lower atmosphere, of the heat radiated from Earth’s surface, causing an increase in the global (land and ocean) mean surface temperature of 0.85 ± 0.20 °C from 1880 to 2012 (
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
Climate

Australia’s emissions in context

Although Australia’s emissions in 2015 of 541 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent2 (MtCO2-e) appear small alongside the most recent estimates from major emitters such as China (10,756
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
Greater BrisbaneGreater DarwinGreater HobartGreater Melbourne
Climate

Kyoto Protocol targets

As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, ratified in 2007, Australia committed to limiting increases in net GHG emissions to 108 per cent of its 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012.
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
Climate

Trends in emissions

Between 1990 and 2015, Australia’s national GHG inventory suggested that emissions decreased 0.1 per cent (Figure ATM10).
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
Greater MelbourneGreater Sydney
Climate

Direct (primary) effects of pressures on climate

The CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology State of the climate 2014 (CSIRO & BoM 2014) concluded that, in the coming decades, Australia’s temperatures are projected to continue to rise.
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
Greater Sydney
Climate

Indirect (secondary and tertiary) effects of pressures on climate

Changes in temperature and precipitation, and extreme events trigger indirect effects of climate change on the environment, affecting economic and social processes and systems, and natural ecosystems.
2016
Relates to
Climate
Pressures
Timor SeaGreat Barrier Reef
Keywood MD, Emmerson KM, Hibberd MF (2016). Climate: Topics. In: Australia state of the environment 2016, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, https://soe.environment.gov.au/theme/climate/topics?framework=106, DOI 10.4226/94/58b65c70bc372