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Tasmania is becoming hotter and drier. Changes in the State’s climate will have far-reaching implications for agriculture, tourism, electricity generation, fisheries, biodiversity and human health.
This report accompanies The Critical Decade: Climate Change Science, Risks and Responses and highlights key climate change impacts and opportunities for Tasmania:
- Tasmania has become drier, posing challenges for agriculture and Tasmania’s hydro-electric power supply.
- Changes in Tasmania’s climate will have far-reaching implications for agriculture, tourism, electricity generation, fisheries, biodiversity and human health.
- A hotter climate is a climate of more extremes. Tasmanians can expect to feel the impacts of more intense rain events and associated flooding, as well as increased fire danger days.
- Tasmania is particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise because most Tasmanians live close to the coast. For instance, in some places a 50cm sea-level rise could result in a present 1-in-100 year flooding event becoming annual or more frequent by the end of the century.
- Tasmania’s internationally renowned biodiversity is at risk from a changing climate. For instance, it is likely that hotter temperatures will reduce available habitat for unique Tasmanian plants and animals. The Tasmanian fisheries industry, worth $522 million per year, will also be at risk from rapidly increasing water temperatures and new invasive species.