Australia's oceans and marine ecosystems are changing in response to changes in the global climate systems.

From 1970 to 2010, total annual rainfall declined over much of eastern Australia and south-west Western Australia

In 2009, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts handed down its report to the Australian Government: Managing our coastal zone in a changing climate: the time to act is now.

Australia’s fire regimes—the frequency, intensity and timing of bushfires—have major consequences for vegetation distribution, composition and condition, and soil bareness and erosion.

​Marine populations wax and wane over time. This natural variation is caused by the natural environmental drivers of change, such as differences in conditions between seasons and years. 

Although the changing physical resilience of the atmospheric–oceanic system is a critically important focus of concern, so too is the resilience of different human and animal populations to the changes in climate that are already occurring and will continue for the foreseeable future.

The State of the environment report: Western Australia 2007 noted that 33 actions were identified for inland waters in response to the 1998 report.

The shipping industry, with its associated substantial infrastructure (ports, harbours, shipping lanes, coastal support), is the major transportation link between Australia and other nations, and provides important linkages between regional Australia and the cities.

Our soils, landforms and vegetation have co-evolved over millions of years. Their health and condition are inextricably linked. Soil health has a strong influence on the growth and condition of all types of vegetation.

Global production of ODSs continues to decline (Figure 3.30). However, due to the long atmospheric lifetimes of a number of important ODSs, they will continue to impact levels of stratospheric ozone for many decades.

A number of the key ODSs persist in the atmosphere for long periods.

The stratosphere is the layer of the atmosphere that begins at an altitude of around 10 kilometres above Earth’s surface and extends to approximately 50 kilometres.

The major drivers of changes to the Australian environment—climate change, population growth and economic growth—are historically related to environmental impact.

Over the relatively short span of 250 years, and for the first time in human history, we have changed and are continuing to change the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale.