Climate change has already hit Australia. Unless we act now, a hotter, drier and more dangerous future awaits, IPCC warns

Michael Grose and CSIRO colleagues write in The Conversation (9.8.21) about the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report which paints a dire picture of the climate extremes affecting all parts of the planet.

‘Australia is experiencing widespread, rapid climate change not seen for thousands of years and may warm by 4℃ or more this century, according to a highly anticipated report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

‘The assessment, released on Monday, also warns of unprecedented increases in climate extremes such as bushfires, floods and drought. But it says deep, rapid emissions cuts could spare Australia, and the world, from the most severe warming and associated harms.

‘The report is the sixth produced by the IPCC since it was founded in 1988 and provides more regional information than any previous version. This gives us a clearer picture of how climate change will play out in Australia specifically.

‘It confirms the effects of human-caused climate change have well and truly arrived in Australia. This includes in the region of the East Australia Current, where the ocean is warming at a rate more than four times the global average.’

IPCC report shows Earth’s temperature is rising, and the heat is on Scott Morrison and Coalition’s climate policy

Melissa Clarke reports for ABC News (10.8.21) on the newly released IPCC climate change report and the pressure it places on the Morrison government’s climate policy settings.

‘It turns out one of the laws of thermodynamics can be applied to politics: temperature will rise when pressure increases in a fixed volume.

‘On climate change, the pressure is building: the time left to take action is diminishing, the political constraints are tightening and global despair at Australia’s approach is growing.

‘The federal government’s space to act remains fixed, with the deadline of the Glasgow climate change talks in November looming. And so, the heat on Prime Minister Scott Morrison is rising.’

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