Extreme weather report a wake-up call, says Combet

A new report from the Climate Commission today shows climate change is already impacting on extreme weather in Australia.

“This report shows that climate change is no longer a problem for the future - it’s already here,” the Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation, Greg Combet, said.

“Record-breaking weather and extreme weather events are becoming more and more common.”

Last summer over 100 weather records were broken in Australia, including the hottest month and hottest day on record.

The report shows that the climate has shifted, increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. 

“This highlights the need for strong and effective policies because the action we take today will largely determine the severity of climate change that our grandchildren will experience,” Combet said.

“Increasing greenhouse gas emissions is like loading the dice for more extreme weather events in the future. We owe it to future generations to clean up our economy and reduce carbon pollution.”

The Gillard government has implemented several policies to tackle climate change, including carbon pricing, the Renewable Energy Target and the $1.2 billion Clean Technology Programs. These policies are already increasing renewable energy and reducing Australia’s carbon pollution.

In the first six months of the carbon price, emissions from electricity generated in the National Electricity Market declined by 8.6%. Since the carbon price came in, the share of energy from renewable sources has increased by almost 30%, and the share from coal-fired generation declined by nearly 10%.

“The Climate Commission’s report is a wake-up call for those who think we can afford to delay taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Combet said.

“It’s time for Tony Abbott to pull his head out of the sand and start listening to the scientists.”

The Opposition Leader has previously said that the world’s warming has stopped; that a 4° temperature increase wouldn’t be that bad; that he is not concerned by rising sea levels; and questioned the link between rising emissions and climate change.

The Climate Commission report ‘The Critical Decade: Extreme Weather’ is available at http://climatecommission.gov.au/report/extreme-weather/.