2016-09-06 S&O Committee - Attachment 1 to Item 3 - Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan

present as mal-adaptations into the future. It encourages proactive approaches, thus
improving disaster preparedness and increased resilience to natural hazards.
Integration of local disaster knowledge with scientific and technical knowledge around
climate can improve both disaster reduction and ongoing adaptation to climate change
through an iterative learning process. As we document local knowledge about experience
with extreme weather events, it helps identify existing capacity within the community and
important current shortcoming and issues we need to plan for better in the future.
Over the past 50 years rapid changes have been observed globally in many features of the
climate system, including warming of the ocean and air, changing rainfall patterns, reduction
of Arctic sea-ice and mass loss of polar ice sheets, increasing sea level and changes in the
life cycle and distribution of many plants and animals. Climate predictions scientists warned
about in the past are now happening.
The consequences of a changing climate are broad ranging and include:
•   Heat waves: The duration and frequency of extremely hot days have increased across
    Australia and around the world. The number of heat waves across South East
    Queensland is projected to increase significantly into the future.
•   Bushfire weather: Climate change has already increased the risk of extreme fire weather
    in some parts of Australia, especially the populated southeast.
•   Rainfall patterns are shifting. Eastern Australia has become drier since 1970 and the
    southeast corner of Australia is likely to remain drier than the long-term average or
    become even drier.
•   Sea-level rise: Global average sea level is now rising and will continue to rise gradually
    through the rest of this century and beyond, contributing to an increased frequency and
    severity of coastal flooding.
•   Health: Heat causes more deaths than any other type of extreme weather event in
    Australia. Increasing intensity and frequency of extreme heat poses health risks for
    Australians and can put additional pressure on health services. Changes in temperature
    and rainfall may allow mosquito-borne illness like dengue fever to spread south.
•   Property and infrastructure across Australia has been built for previous climatic
    conditions and much of it is ill prepared to cope with increasingly frequent and/or intense
    extreme weather.
•   Agriculture: Changing rainfall patterns and increasing risk of extreme heat and bushfire
    weather present challenges for Australian agriculture. Production of temperature- and
    water-sensitive broad acre crops, fruit, vegetables and wine grapes need to adapt to
    these changing growing conditions or move to locations where growing conditions are
    becoming more amenable for their production.
•   Natural ecosystems: Many Australian plants and animals are already responding to
    climate change be changing their distributions and the timing of life cycles. Climate
    change, in combination with other stresses, is increasing the risk of species extinctions
    and threatening many iconic ecosystems including the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu
    National Park and the alpine zone.
To help the Noosa Shire region adapt and mitigate the likely effects of climate change over
time Noosa Council is working on or has programmed a number of climate related projects
including:
•   corporate carbon accounting and management
•   development of a climate change strategy

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