Climate change update in CSIRO book

CSIRO has launched Climate Change: Science and Solutions for Australia to help inform business, government and the community about the many issues that need to be addressed in response to climate change.

The book highlights the importance of climate change as a matter of significant economic, environmental and social concern in Australia and provides the latest information on international climate change science and potential responses.

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Megan Clark launched the book at the Greenhouse 2011 climate change conference in Cairns. She says that CSIRO is committed to communicating its latest research and scientific advice on the major challenges and opportunities that face Australia.

“This publication draws on the latest peer-reviewed literature contributed by thousands of researchers in Australia and internationally,” Dr Clark says. “It seeks to provide a bridge from the peer-reviewed scientific literature to a broader audience of society, while providing the depth of science that this complex issue demands and deserves.

“It also provides a synthesis of CSIRO’s long history of publicly funded research into climate change.”

The book’s 168 pages provide scientific insights including:

• Evidence from many different sources shows human activities are contributing to the Earth’s changing climate
• Some of the impacts of climate change on Australia are already apparent
• We are committed to some degree of climate change as a result of past greenhouse gas emissions, so we will need to adapt on a far more extensive scale than is currently occurring
• Energy-saving technologies, demand reduction and distributed power generation will help to lower national carbon emissions
• Agriculture and forestry hold great potential for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through afforestation, soil-carbon management, and better management of livestock and cropping emissions
• Action within the next decade to lower greenhouse gas emissions will reduce the probability and severity of climate change impacts.

“CSIRO works with its partners to develop practical responses to the global challenges of climate change, working across three areas of research: understanding the science of climate change; adapting to unavoidable climate impacts; and reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Dr Clark says.

“The book is available for free as an e-book from the CSIRO website and we will also be distributing print copies as a ready reference for key decision-makers around the country.”

The printed version of the book has been produced on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.