Extreme heat, floods likely as weather evolves

EXTREME weather events in 2009 and March this year provided the people of NSW with an indication of what the state is increasingly likely to face as the climate changes, a report by the federal government's Climate Commission says.

The year 2009 was the hottest year on record in NSW and a rise in the number of similar heatwave events is predicted. The number of days reaching more than 35 degrees in Sydney is expected to triple by 2070.

Climate change ''cannot be ruled out'' as a factor in recent heavy rainfalls, such as the flash flooding in Sydney on March 8, the wettest March day for more than 25 years, the report says.

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The state, on average, is expected to become drier, increasing the risk of longer, harsher droughts and of bushfires, but the intensity of downpours could also increase in a hotter climate, due to warmer ocean temperatures.

The report, The Critical Decade, NSW Climate Impacts and Opportunities, is released today. At a public forum at Parramatta Town Hall tomorrow night the public can question members of the commission, which is an independent panel of climate scientists and policy and business leaders.

The chief commissioner, Tim Flannery, said NSW was highly vulnerable to climate change.

''Changes in Sydney's climate will have far-reaching implications for health, agriculture, tourism, water security and biodiversity,'' said Professor Flannery, who will attend the forum.

But the state also had the opportunity to benefit from a boom in clean energy, he said.

NSW is a world leader in research on solar photovoltaics and has produced the heads of four of the six top global manufacturers of this technology, including Shi Zhengrong, the chief executive of the world's largest solar company, Suntech.

The report says an estimated $20 billion would be invested in solar power in Australia by 2020 and NSW was ''well placed'' to capitalise on this.

''Even if solar panels are imported from overseas, around 30 to 40 per cent of panel installation costs will go to local installers,'' it says.

The climate commissioners Will Steffen and Lesley Hughes, who will also attend the forum, said a shift to cleaner energy sources was needed to help minimise climate change risks.

''This is the critical decade for action. The longer we wait, the more difficult and costly it will be,'' Professor Steffen, of the Australian National University, and Professor Hughes, of Macquarie University, conclude in their report summary.

They say the coastal areas of NSW face significant risks from sea level rises. ''A 1.1-metre rise by the end of the century could put between 40,000 to 60,000 houses, 1200 commercial buildings and 250 kilometres of highway in NSW at risk of inundation.''

With a sea level rise of 0.5 metres, storm surge flooding in Sydney that is now considered a one-in-100-year event could occur every few months.


http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/extreme-heat-floods-likely-as-wea...

____ wrote on May 14^th, 2012 at 7:52am:



True: climate change "cannot be ruled out".

In fact, I'm not aware of anyone who says otherwise.

Human involvement, however ... that's a whole different story.

People seem to fall into three camps:

1) Climate change is crap.

Dont believe the climate is changing at all. They take evidence is when they look out the window, the weather seems like any other winters day.  End of story.

2) The climate is changing but not by man.

The most untenable position. They see the world wide measurements and realise that the climate is changing, but rather than admit we can do something about it (vested interest, political views, or pure laziness), try to blame-shift away from man.
Fact. Climate is warming. Fact. Co2 warms the climate. Fact. We are releasing millions of tonnes of previously stored co2.

3) Climate change is real, and man is a significant contributor.

If you possess a brain where logic can override your political views, this is where you are.

Once you are in group 3, and everyone will eventually get there,  you are then left with 2 options

3a.  Do something. price coal, or invest in renewables.

3b. Do nothing. Blame someone else. (chinese, americans, previous generations, etc)



I'm 3a all the way baby!

Uncle Meat wrote on May 14^th, 2012 at 12:41pm:


You have no other possibilities.  You just hope there is one. You dont know what it is, but you hope it exists.

Untenable position.

Perhaps Rupert Murdoch caused global warming. He was apparently behind the QLD floods.

SOB

PS for the idiot that take me seriously this is a joke - although the link is real

Doctor Jolly wrote on May 14^th, 2012 at 1:18pm:



Yep, that's about the level of ignorance I expected.

Unvbelievable.

Option (2) of my categorizations is really a trap for right wingers trying to have a bit each way.

Some fall into it easy. Some need to be coaxed.

muso wrote on May 14^th, 2012 at 3:53pm:



I've never met anyone in Camp 1.

I'm not so sure they exist.