2017-10-10 S&O Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 7 - Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2018

In the event of a terror incident in Noosa the QPS will manage the policing response and the
SCDDC will coordinate any associated disaster management response. The DDC may call upon
the Noosa Local Group for resources or to undertake appropriate response and recovery activities
in support of the community.


8.2.5    Climate change
The intergovernmental panel on climate change has stated that:

“Ongoing coastal development and population growth in areas such as Cairns and Southeast
Queensland are projected to exacerbate risks from sea-level rise and increases in the severity and
frequency of storms and coastal flooding by 2050”. (IPCC 2007)

While it is considered that climate change will have little effect on current disaster management
operations, Queensland Government climate change summaries indicate south-east Queensland
could face major challenges as a result of drier and warmer conditions.

Coastal regions could face challenges due to a rise in sea-level combined with increased coastal
development and rapid population growth.

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters including
major storms, droughts, heat wave, bushfires and flooding. Disaster management operations are
at the frontline in preparing for such events, in preventing the worst forms of damage and harm and
in managing post-event recovery. Because the way we plan for disaster today can affect the way
we cope in future, disaster management efforts can benefit from an understanding of local climate
change trends, projections and impacts.

Knowledge of climate change enables collaborative effort towards building adaptive capacity within
the community and across levels of government. It avoids making decisions that may 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 prediction scientists have 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 south east.
   •    Rainfall patterns are shifting: eastern Australia has become drier since 1970 and the
        south east corner of Australia is likely to remain drier than the long-term average or become
        even drier.




Noosa Local Disaster Management Plan 2018                                                    Page 48