Original story at The Land
Temperatures are rising, with both maximums and minimums increasing.
The extreme weather events that have hit Australia in recent years are likely to increase in frequency and potentially intensify in the future as a result of climate change, a Senate inquiry has found.
The inquiry, Recent trends in and preparedness for extreme weather events, recommended increased co-ordination across governments and many sectors of society to prepare for and limit the impact of such events.
The Senate committee report also called for "credible and reliable flood mapping" to assist landowners of potential risks and to better inform land-use planning laws.
The report will likely be welcomed by the insurance industry in particular, which had been calling for many of the changes it recommends. These include toughening building codes to "account for foreseeable risks", and removing disincentives for taking up insurance, such as state taxes.
Some of the report's submissions coincided with the country's hottest period of record. January, for instance, broke records for the hottest average national maximum temperature and for the hottest single month on record in what would be Australia's hottest summer.
Floods have been Australia's most costly extreme weather events in recent years.
Hot times
The report's release also comes as the US released its State of the Climate report for 2012, which found last year to be the eighth or ninth hottest in data series going back to 1850. It noted many other signals of a warming planet including record low Arctic ice cover and the 22nd consecutive year of shrinking glacier mass.
The Greens jumped on the Senate committee's findings, saying it was time Labor and the Coalition acknowledged Australia “is unprepared for a significant increase in natural disasters as a result of climate change”.
“The inquiry found the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events will increase in coming decades, costing Australia billions of dollars,” Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said. “In the past six years alone, natural disasters have affected hundreds of thousands of Australians and cost the economy more than $10 billion.”
“We will obviously consider an extensive report carefully,” said Greg Hunt, the Coalition’s spokesman for climate change.
Mr Hunt singled out the inquiry's recommendations that the government work closely with the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology to step up research into early warning of extreme events and also the links between weather events and climate trends.
"I have a deep respect for and belief in the work of both the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO," Mr Hunt said. "We therefore strongly support continued and extended research by both into climatic trends, weather events and climate change.”
Globally, glaciers are shrinking in one signal of a warming planet.
Fairfax Media has sought a response from Mark Butler, the Minister for Climate Change.
Insurers' support
The report found that Australia's exposure to extreme events is increasing not just from climate change but also because of the spread of population and investments into vulnerable areas.
The attention to those threats, particularly in flood-prone areas, has been welcomed by insurers.
“Today’s report is another voice that strongly says we need a comprehensive and more sustainable approach to managing natural disasters in Australia to keep people safe,” said Mike Wilkins, chief executive of IAG, one of Australia's biggest insurers.
“Every Australian is impacted by natural disasters and extreme weather," Mr Wilkins said. "Whether it be through personal devastation in losing loved ones or property, whether it be through billions of their taxpayer dollars spent on recovery, the creation of special flood levies, or through higher insurance premiums, we all pay the price when we fail to make where we live as safe as possible.”
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