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Environment
Sustainability is the long-term outcome of avoiding depleting critical finite resources for the maintenance of human activities. The Council recognises that all life has intrinsic value, is interconnected and that biodiversity and ecological integrity are part of the irreplaceable life support systems upon which the Earth depends. Council is committed to using its best endeavours to meet the needs of current and future generations through integration of environmental protection, social advancement and economic prosperity.
Climate change overview
Since the Industrial Revolution (around 1750), human activities have substantially added to the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels and biomass (living matter such as vegetation) has also resulted in emissions of aerosols that absorb and emit heat, and reflect light.
The addition of greenhouse gases and aerosols has changed the composition of the atmosphere. The changes in the atmosphere have likely influenced temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level (IPCC, 2007). However, these features of the climate also vary naturally, so determining what fraction of climate changes are due to natural variability versus human activities is challenging. A change in land use and cover can affect temperature by changing how much solar radiation the land reflects and absorbs. Processes such as deforestation, reforestation, desertification and urbanization often contribute to changes in climate (including temperature, wind and precipitation) in the places they occur.
The potential impacts on biodiversity of human induced climate change are gradually being recognized around the world and around Australia (CALM 2004a). The South West of WA is no exception; in fact it has already experienced a temperature increase of 0.7 degrees over the last 50 years and a decrease in rainfall of 10-20% over the past 28 years (IOCI 2002). The impacts of climate change on biodiversity will vary around the world but is generally expected to result in the “displacement of some species… (and in others) changes in their distribution and abundance” (CALM 2004a). Within the region, continued drying (up to 60% declines in rainfall by 2070) and warming beyond which has already been experienced is predicted by the Indian Ocean Climate Initiative (IOCI 2002).
For more information contact:
Customer Service Officer, Customer Service Centre
- Hours
- Mon - Fri: 8.00am to 4.30pm
- Telephone
- 08 9780 5255
- Fax
- 08 9757 2512