Australia’s environment took a beating in 2018, as temperatures rose, rainfall declined, the health of rivers and ecosystems worsened, and floods, droughts and bushfires all took their toll.
With heatwaves, droughts and fires all on the rise, the federal government is urged to merge its separate strategies on disaster resilience and climate readiness.
Recent marine heatwaves have devastated crucial coastal habitats, including kelp forests, seagrass meadows and coral reefs.
Dan Smale
Dan Smale, Marine Biological Association and Thomas Wernberg, The University of Western Australia
Marine heatwaves, like their land counterparts, are growing hotter and longer. Sea species in southeastern Australia, southeast Asia, northwestern Africa, Europe and eastern Canada are most at risk.
Firefighters tackle a large blaze on Saddleworth Moor near Manchester, England, February 2019.
West Yorkshire Fire Service
Wildfires broke out across the British Isles during a recent heatwave. But the burning question of the link to climate change does not have an easy answer.
A shade tree makes a big difference to the comfort of this couple.
Nancie Lee/Shutterstock
Two trends in Australia, an ageing population and warming climate, are increasing the threat that heatwaves pose to our health. Increasing vegetation cover is one way every city can reduce the risk.
Dirty water from Queensland’s historic flooding, triggered by weeks of exceptional monsoon rains earlier in the year.
NASA Worldview/EPA
What do the recent Townsville floods and Tasmanian heatwave have in common? Both were caused by weather systems that stayed put for days or weeks on end. And global warming could worsen that trend.
Dozens of brumbies were found dead near Santa Teresa in Australia’s remote interior.
AAP Image
Mass wildlife die-offs, such as those wrought by Australia’s recent heatwaves, make for grim headlines. But the wider effects of extreme weather are more complex, and can be remarkably long-lasting.
Lochiel Park in Adelaide was Australia’s first large-scale attempt to create homes that use near net zero energy.
Stephen Berry
Air conditioning changed both building design and people’s active management of home temperatures. A return to houses designed for our climate can keep us comfortable and cut energy use and emissions.
Queensland groper, typical of coral reefs off Queensland at 27°S were found in the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland, at 35°S.
from www.shutterstock.com
Jim Salinger, University of Tasmania and James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Analysis of last summer’s heatwave shows it killed farmed salmon and decimated kelp forests, as well as shifting grape harvests and fish spawning times forward by several weeks.
Parts of Australia have broken multiple heat records over the past week.
Vicki/Flickr
Pollutants from fossil fuel combustion cause thousands of premature deaths nationwide every year. This is just one way our climate change policies impact on the nation’s health.
A hot summer will mean wetlands dry out faster than ever, so how will pest mosquitoes respond?
Cameron Webb (NSW Health Pathology)
The forecast arrival of El Niño may mean the east coast of Australia will experience an exceptionally hot and dry summer, but does this mean there will be fewer mosquitoes buzzing about?
Climate change poses a threat to our mental health. Building connected communities is one way to combat a rise in suicide rates as global temperatures increase.
A real fire in southern New South Wales - not to be confused with the metaphorical one in the halls of Canberra.
AAP Image/Darren Pateman
With New South Wales suffering winter bushfires and temperature records tumbling around the globe, our leaders in Canberra have picked a bad time to jettison climate policy in favour of political bickering.
Melbourne’s temperatures have periodically spiked far beyond what its residents are used to.
AAP Image/Ellen Smith