Need to tackle climate change reinforced

Northern Times
11/01/2008 Page: 7

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Annual Australian Climate Statement, released last week, reinforces the need to tackle climate change, said the Minister for Climate Change and Water Penny Wong.

The statement revealed that:

• 2007 was the sixth hottest year on record in Australia,
• 2007 was the hottest year on record in the Murray Darling basin, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, and
• South-east Australia has now missed out on the equivalent of an average year's rainfall over the past 11 years, and under the current drought, water storages have had record low inflows.

The statement also revealed that 16 of the last 18 years have been warmer than the long-term average in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's picture of the Australian climate during 2007 was consistent with the trends outlined in the 2007 global climate change science assessment that was released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Ms Wong said the statement provided valuable evidence that would inform the Government's response to climate change.

"This statement reinforces the Rudd Government's approach in making climate change a top priority," said Ms Wong. "The first act of the Rudd Government was to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. "This new leadership continued at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, where Australia played a constructive role in negotiations on the `Bali Roadmap'. "This year the Government will be working on a National Emissions Trading Scheme and increasing the uptake of renewable energy. "All these efforts demonstrate the Rudd Government's determination to do its bit in the global challenge to tackle climate change.

Ms Wong congratulated the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for their work. "For 100 years, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has served Australians with important research and analysis on our climate, and providing weather forecasts. I thank the staff and volunteers of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for their work and look forward to their ongoing contribution to the job of tackling climate change."