Professor Lesley Hughes

Methane in the atmosphere is rising at a record rate: up about 260% since preindustrial times to a high not seen for at least 800,000 years.

Most people understand that carbon dioxide is the number one culprit when it comes to climate change. But there’s another harmful gas permeating our atmosphere and warming up our planet: methane.

Late Thursday afternoon, just as the nation was switching off for the Easter break, the Government quietly released its latest update on the health of the Great Barrier Reef, confirming the devastating extent of yet another mass coral bleaching event.

In this report, the Climate Council presents some key observations from the summer so far. What has it taught us about our changing climate, and how we need to respond?

As our climate changes, driven by the unchecked burning of fossil fuels, our seas are transforming before our eyes. Put simply: the climate crisis is an ocean crisis.

Australia’s main national environment law is supposed to protect the animals, plants, landscapes and ecosystems that are our shared natural endowment. But it is failing in this essential task.

Australia must get our emissions on a steep downward trajectory with an actionable plan to reduce emissions by 75 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by 2035.

The record-breaking and relentless deluge that has flooded towns and cities in Queensland and New South Wales is one of the most extreme disasters in Australian history, and the devastation is wide-ranging. Climate change is intensifying extreme rainfall.

Climate change is the single greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef. Until the Federal Government takes emissions reduction seriously, it cannot claim it is protecting one of the world’s most precious natural assets.

Climate change is accelerating. Global warming is forecast to exceed 1.5˚C during the 2030s—an urgent challenge that demands Australia achieve net zero by 2035.

Australia’s rich sporting identity is threatened by climate change—with increased heatwaves, bushfires—but remains an integral part of the solution.

Australia’s Black Summer of 2019-2020 was characterised by catastrophic bushfires. The bushfire season started in winter and was the worst on record for NSW in terms of its intensity, the area burned, and the number of properties lost. It was also the worst season on record for properties lost in Queensland.

A long-term warming trend from the burning of coal, oil & gas is supercharging extreme weather events, putting Australian lives, our economy & our environment at risk. The Climate Council’s new report finds this summer is shaping up as a terrible trifecta of heatwaves, droughts & bushfires made worse by climate change.

Australia is home to more than a million species of plants and animals, yet our track record on conservation is woeful; climate change is making it even harder to protect our natural ecosystems and unique wildlife.

Australia’s water security has already been significantly influenced by climate change. Rainfall patterns are shifting and the severity of floods and droughts has increased.

THE GREAT BARRIER REEF could be hit with repeat coral bleaching events every two years by 2034 under current greenhouse gas pollution rates, the Climate Council’s new report shows.

Climate Change made Australia’s warmest winter on record an astounding 60 times more likely, our new report highlights.

Australia’s food supply chain is highly exposed to disruption from increasing extreme weather events driven by climate change, with farmers already struggling to cope with more frequent and intense droughts and changing weather patterns.