The climate change threat

The scientific evidence,^{1, 2} clearly shows that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are interfering with Earth’s climate system, causing serious problems for the environment and people all over the world.^{3, 4}The last time there was so much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere was over two million years ago.⁵ Without substantial action, climate change poses a major threat to humanity and most living systems on Earth.⁶

The climates of New South Wales (NSW) and Australia are already changing.^7, 8 The State of the Climate 2020 report shows that Australia’s climate has warmed on average by 1.44 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910, leading to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events.⁹ Observations reveal that 2019 was the driest and warmest year on record for NSW and Australia.^10, 11 The summer of 2019-20 was particularly severe, marked by extreme heatwaves, below average rainfall and strong winds that fuelled the most catastrophic bushfire season in recorded history.^12, 13, 14

The impacts of climate change on the people, environment and economies of NSW, Australia and the globe are expected to get worse over time.^15, 16, 17 However, the scale of these impacts will depend on how much greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced, and how long it takes.¹⁸

Useful climate change resources

Thumbnail of the State of the Environment - Climate and Air webpage — **EPA - NSW State of the Environment – Climate and Air theme webpage**

Thumbnail of the Adapt NSW website — **NSW Government - Adapt NSW website**

Thumbnail of Climate change, DPIE website — **NSW DPIE - Environment, Energy and Science climate change webpage**

Thumbnail of the Nationally Determined Contributions, UN Climate change website — **UN Climate change website**

Thumbnail of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change website — **The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) website**

Thumbnail of the Australia's climate change strategies website — **Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources - Australia’s climate change strategies webpage**

Thumbnail of the Climate Change in Australia website — **CSIRO and BOM Climate Change in Australia website**

Thumbnail of the State of the Climate 2020 website — **CSIRO and BOM State of the Climate website**

References

1. IPCC (2014), Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland. URL: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/ cited 9/11/2020

2. UNFCC website: Introduction to Science, URL: https://unfccc.int/topics/science/the-big-picture/introduction-science cited 9/11/2020

3. NSW Government, Adapt NSW website: Causes of climate change, URL: https://climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au/About-climate-change-in-NSW/Causes-of-climate-change, cited 6/11/20

4. NSW Government, Adapt NSW website: Climate systems, URL: https://climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au/About-climate-change-in-NSW/Climate-systems, cited 6/11/20

5. CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (2020) State of the Climate 2020, Commonwealth of Australia, November 2020, URL: https://www.csiro.au/~/media/OnA/Files/State-of-the-Climate-2020.pdf (PDF 3.9MB)

6. EPA (2018) NSW State of the Environment 2018, NSW Environment Protection Authority, Sydney South, December 2018, URL: https://www.soe.epa.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-05/18p1370-nsw-state-of-the-environment-2018-WEB_9-5-19.pdf (PDF 4.2MB)

7. NSW Government, Adapt NSW website: About climate change in NSW, URL: https://climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au/About-climate-change-in-NSW cited 6/11/20

8. CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (2020) State of the Climate 2020, Commonwealth of Australia, November 2020, URL: https://www.csiro.au/~/media/OnA/Files/State-of-the-Climate-2020.pdf (PDF 3.9MB)

9. CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (2020) State of the Climate 2020, Commonwealth of Australia, November 2020, URL: https://www.csiro.au/~/media/OnA/Files/State-of-the-Climate-2020.pdf (PDF 3.9MB)

10. Bureau of Meteorology website: New South Wales in 2019: record warm and record dry, URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/nsw/archive/2019.summary.shtml, Commonwealth of Australia, cited 6/11/2020

11. Bureau of Meteorology (2020) Annual climate statement 2019, Commonwealth of Australia, issued 9/01/2020, URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/2019/

12. Bureau of Meteorology website: New South Wales in 2019: record warm and record dry, URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/nsw/summary.shtml, Commonwealth of Australia, cited 6/11/2020

13. Bureau of Meteorology (2020) Annual climate statement 2019, Commonwealth of Australia, issued 9/01/2020, URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/

14. Bureau of Meteorology (2020) Special Climate Statement 73 - extreme heat and fire weather in December 2019 and January 2020, Commonwealth of Australia, 17 March 2020, URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/statements/scs73.pdf (PDF 1.53MB)

15. NSW Government, Adapt NSW website: Impacts of climate change, URL: https://climatechange.environment.nsw.gov.au/Impacts-of-climate-change, cited 6/11/20

16. EPA (2018) NSW State of the Environment 2018, NSW Environment Protection Authority, Sydney South, December 2018, URL: https://www.soe.epa.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-05/18p1370-nsw-state-of-the-environment-2018-WEB_9-5-19.pdf (PDF 4.2MB)

17. CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology (2020) State of the Climate 2020, Commonwealth of Australia, November 2020, URL: https://www.csiro.au/~/media/OnA/Files/State-of-the-Climate-2020.pdf (PDF 3.9MB)

18. EPA (2018) NSW State of the Environment 2018, NSW Environment Protection Authority, Sydney South, December 2018. URL: https://www.soe.epa.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-05/18p1370-nsw-state-of-the-environment-2018-WEB_9-5-19.pdf (PDF 4.2MB), cited 6/11/20