Climate change adaptation

Analysis and Comment (15)

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Only 39% of mining companies believe the climate is changing; 13% have made plans to adapt. CSIRO

Mining companies are underprepared for climate change

By Barton Loechel, CSIRO

Recent research suggests only a minority of mining companies are preparing for the biophysical impacts of climate change. Those that are preparing are going it alone: there is little collaboration on planning…
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We’re facing up to fire, flood and environmental devastation – let’s refocus our approach. thesaradarling/Flickr

Winning the climate debate by adapting

By David Bowman, University of Tasmania

It is time to reframe the climate change debate. Inadvertently, climate and environmental scientists have created an intellectual ecosystem that has created opportunities for contrarians like Lord Monckton…
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Australians are largely under-prepared for the threats posed by future global warming. AAP Image/Raymond Keyworth

Who will speak up for climate change adaptation?

By Leigh Glover, University of Melbourne

As with the federal elections of 2007 and 2010, climate change appears set to feature again in the forthcoming September poll. Yet one of the most important aspects of the issue, that of adaptation to…
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Climate adaptation has to keep poorer people cool too. Chris Riebschlager

Staying safe in a hotter Australia might depend on your income

By Hilary Bambrick, University of Western Sydney

In a summer that has so far seen unprecedented heat followed by unprecedented floods across large parts of the country, it’s hard for those of us researching climate change impacts not to say “I told you…
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Adapting to future disasters is complicated and expensive, but might be more cost-effective than endless clean-ups. AAP Image/Paul Beutel

Clean-up or adaptation? ‘Disaster-proofing’ Queensland

By Sarah Boulter, Griffith University

Following several years of devastation in Queensland, the state’s premier believes it’s time to “flood and disaster proof” as many towns and communities as possible. In Mr Newman’s words: “We can’t accept…
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Many people flooded out in 2011 went back and suffered the same fate in 2013.

Why move back? Floods and the difficulty of relocation

By David King, James Cook University

The 2013 floods show a striking resemblance to the weather system that generated the 2011 floods. A small cyclone in North Queensland (Tasha in 2010, Oswald in 2013) moved down the east coast bringing…
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The rush to rebuild is understandable, but our attitude to bushfires will bring us more trouble in the long run. AAP Image/Rob Blakers

Adapting to bushfires means accepting their place in Australia

By Stewart Williams, University of Tasmania

It’s just a week into the new year and here in Tasmania we are already licking our wounds after disastrous fires in the state’s south. Mainlanders are facing similar events as extreme weather conditions…
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No one really wants to think about getting old, or about how climate change will affect us. But we can prepare for both. kamshots/Flickr

Who wants to prepare for the future?

By Liese Coulter, Griffith University

For most of us, preparing for the future means having a retirement fund and health coverage, choosing our preferred tree change or sea change option and keeping on the good side of the relatives who will…
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As climate change continues to affect our infrastructure and society in unpredictable ways, we’ll just have to keep adapting. Justin Lane EPA

No ribbon to cut: climate change adaptation never ends

By Hartmut Fuenfgeld, RMIT University

Besides the recent polarised debates about the carbon tax, another response to climate change is underway in Australia. It’s much quieter, less contested, and it seems to attract support from across the…
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Scientists need to feel confident to speak out about the dangers of coming extreme weather. Ramin Talai/EPA

Is Australia prepared for a storm like Sandy?

By Priyan Mendis, University of Melbourne

Last week the global landscape of mitigating and managing disasters changed forever. We heard the news of six Italian scientists charged for manslaughter and jailed for six years each for failing to predict…
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Little penguins are among a number of species that are threatened by climate change. AAP/Rick Stevens

Ocean winners and losers revealed in Marine Report Card

By Alistair Hobday, CSIRO

Fish are on the move in Australia’s waters. In southern Australia, scientists, commercial and recreational fishers, divers and beach-goers are reporting the presence of new species. The movement of species…
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Sign of things to come: a depleted Lake Hume in 2007, when the big dry still had a couple years to run. Flickr/Tim J Keegan

Climate change and Victoria: high time to innovate, adapt, and cope

By Tim Flannery

Victoria has entered a critical decade in the race to adapt for the stresses of climate change, according to a new report from the Climate Commission. Following the release of Victorian climate impacts…
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Time for serious planning: but who is responsible for societies' adaptations to climate change? Flickr/baldeaglebluff

Adapting to climate change: more questions than answers!

By Rod Keenan, University of Melbourne

With increasing global greenhouse gas emissions, and no clear internationally-agreed path for emission reductions, we are faced with a global climate that will be at least two degrees warmer than today…

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