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Climate Change
See also the Parliamentary Library's Climate Change web publication.
What
is Climate Change | Key international Agreements |
Key International Reports | Australian
Government | State and Territory Governments
| Key Australian Organisations | Research
in Australia | Other Countries |
Climate Change Economics |Climate
Change and National Security | Key International
Organisations | Climate Change 'Skeptics' |
Selected Further Reading
What is
Climate Change?
Department of Climate Change - Climate change what does it mean? and Climate change science
- Climate change refers to any change
in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result
of human activity (glossary,
Australian Greenhouse Office, Annual Report 2003-2004).
- Global Warming is an increase in
global average surface temperature due to natural or anthropogenic climate
change ( glossary,
Australian Greenhouse Office, Annual Report 2003-2004).
- Greenhouse effect: A natural effect
that keeps the Earth’s temperature at a level necessary to support life.
Gases in the lower atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, methane and water
vapour are warmed by radiation released by
the Earth’s surface after it has been warmed by solar energy. These
gases then radiate heat back towards the ground—adding to the heat the
ground receives from the Sun. Without the natural greenhouse effect
the surface of the planet would be about 33°C colder on average. The
enhanced greenhouse effect occurs when human activity, such as burning
fossil fuels and land clearing, generates more greenhouse gases and
increases the warming process. Most scientists agree that the enhanced
greenhouse effect is leading to global warming and climate change (glossary,
Australian Greenhouse Office Annual Report 2003-2004).
- Greenhouse gases: Natural and anthropogenic
gases in the atmosphere that absorb and emit infrared or heat radiation,
causing the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases are water vapour,
carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane (glossary, Australian Greenhouse Office, Annual Report
2003-2004).
Barrie Pittock, Climate Change -
An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts, 2003.
CSIRO The science of climate change
Climate
change Science from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC)
Stewart Smith, The
Science of Climate Change, New South Wales Parliamentary Library
Research Service, Background Paper No. 01/06, February 2006.
UK Parliamentary Office of Science
and Technology, Climate
change science, November 2007.
Greenhouse Gas Data
- UNFCCC greenhouse gas inventory data.
- The UNFCCC website lists links to external sources of data on greenhouse gas emissions.
Key
International Agreements
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is an international treaty, negotiated between 1990
and 1992, that recognised global action was required to slow growth
of greenhouse gas emissions, thought to be responsible for global warming.
The UNFCCC was adopted in May 1992 and opened for signatures a month
later at the Rio
Earth Summit. Australia signed the UNFCCC at Rio de Janeiro 4 June
1992 and the instrument of ratification was deposited 30 December 1992.
- Asia-Pacific Partnership
on Clean Development and Climate - Australia, China, India,
Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States have agreed to work together
and with private sector partners to meet goals for energy security,
national air pollution reduction, and climate change in ways that promote
sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.
Key
International Reports
- IPCC Third Assessment
Report - 2001
- Gateway to the UN System's
work on climate change
Australian
Government
State
and Territory Governments
Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Local Government
- The Cities
for Climate Protection (CCP) Australia program assists local
governments and their communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Australasian Mayors Council
for Climate Protection (AMCCP) - established to build the
capacity of councils participating in the Cities / Communities for
Climate Protection (CCP) program across Australia and New Zealand
to undertake a non-partisan and accelerated approach to advocacy and
action on climate protection.
- NSW Local Government and Shires Association - Climate
Change Action Pack.
Key
Australian Organisations
Research
in Australia
Other
Countries
New Zealand
- New Zealand Climate Change
- Ministry for the Environment
- New Zealand Climate Change Centre announced
on 9 October 2007 by the Prime Minister Helen Clark and Minister of
Research, Science and Technology Steve Maharey - a collaboration of
9 Crown Research Institutes and Canterbury and Victoria Universities.
Canada
USA
European Union
United Kingdom
China
India
Japan
Republic of Korea (South
Korea)
Climate
Change Economics
- The Garnaut
Climate Change Review- an independent study by Professor Ross Garnaut,
commissioned by Australia's State and Territory Governments on 30 April
2007. The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, has confirmed the
participation of the Commonwealth Government in the Review. The Final
Report was released on 30 September 2008.
- Climate Changes
- A selection of the most recent and most interesting working papers
and unpublished manuscripts on the economics of climate change.
Emissions Trading
Australia
- National Emissions
Trading Taskforce (NETT) - the State and Territory Governments
established the NETT to develop a multi-jurisdictional emissions
trading scheme for consideration by State and Territory Governments.
New South Wales
- New South Wales Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Scheme (GGAS) - commenced on 1 January 2003. One
of the first mandatory greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes
in the world and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated
with the production and use of electricity.
International
- Point Carbon
a provider of independent news, analysis and consulting services
for European and global power, gas and carbon markets.
- International Council for Capital Formation - climate
change policy - conducts research on international climate change
policies and their economic and environmental effects.
Key International
Organisations
- United Nations Gateway to the UN System's work on climate change
- CLIMATE-L.ORG is a knowledge
management project that provides news and information to decision makers
on the actions of international organizations in responding to climate
change.
- Global Leadership for
Climate Action (GLCA) - a task force of world leaders committed
to addressing climate change through international negotiations. A joint
initiative of the UN Foundation and the Club of Madrid, the GLCA consists
of former heads of state and government as well as leaders from business,
government and civil society from more than 20 countries.
- Pew Center on Global Climate
Change (USA)
- International Institute for Sustainable Development - climate
change and energy
- Climate Change Knowledge Network
- Pacific Institute for Studies in
Development, Environment, and Security
- Center for International
Climate and Environmental Research - Oslo
- Asia Pacific Network
– an inter-governmental network whose primary purposes are to foster
global environmental change research in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Climate
Action Network - A global network of over 287 Non- Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) working to promote government and individual action
to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels
- Science and Development Network – Climate
Change
- Climate Ark climate change
and global warming portal.
- The Climate Group an
independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing business
and government leadership on climate change and based in the UK, the
USA and Australia.
- The World Bank Climate
Change
- World Resources Institute
- Asian Development Bank - clean
energy and the environment
- The Society of Environmental Journalists - Climate
change: A guide to the information and disinformation
- World Coal Institute - Climate
Change
- GreenFacts - Scientific Facts on Climate
Change and Global Warming
- ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
- International
Food Policy Research Institute - climate change poses great
risks to poor people whose livelihoods depend directly on agriculture,
forestry, and other natural resource uses. IFPRI's climate change research
focuses on the assessment of, adaptation to, and mitigation of these
risks.
- KPMG - Climate Change
- Climate strategies - assisting governments in solving the collective action problem of climate change.
- Climate Action Tracker an independent science-based assessment, which tracks the emission commitments and actions of countries. The website provides an up-to-date assessment of individual national pledges for to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate
Change ‘Skeptics’
Climate
Change and National Security
- ‘UN Security Council Holds First-Ever Debate
on Impact of Climate Change on Peace, Security, Hearing over 50
Speakers’, April 2007
- Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) - Climate
Change and Security
- Douglas V. Johnson, II, Global
Climate Change: National Security Implications, Strategic Studies
Institute US Army War College, May 2007.
- World in Transition – Climate
Change as a Security Risk Summary for Policy-Makers, German Advisory
Council on Global Change, Berlin, 2007
- CNA Corporation, National
Security and the threat of Climate Change, 2007
- John Drexhage, Deborah Murphy, Oli Brown, Aaron Cosbey, Peter Dickey,
Jo-Ellen Parry and John Van Ham (International Institute for Sustainable
Development) and Richard Tarasofsky and Beverley Darkin (Chatham House), Climate
change and foreign policy: An exploration of options for
greater integration, IISD and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark,
2007.
- Cleo Paskal, How
climate change is pushing the boundaries of security and foreign policy, Chatham House Briefing Paper, June 2007.
- Anthony Bergin and Ross Allen, The thin green line: climate change and Australian Policing, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra 2008.
- Anthony Bergin and Jacon Townsend, A change in climate for the Australian Defence Force, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra, 2007.
Selected
Further Reading
- UNFCC background Feeling
the Heat.
- Greenhouse Gases & the Kyoto Protocol
An interactive map that presents data and statistics collected by international
institutions.
- Global Warming Facts
and our Future National Academy of Science.
- Global climate change resources
American Association for the Advancement Science (AAAS).
- New Scientist, Special Report Climate
Change.
- Michael Le Page, ' Climate
change: A guide for the perplexed' , NewScientist.com news service,
16 May 2007.
- Kate Ravilious, '2100:
A world of wild weather', NewScientist.com news service,
18 January 2007.
- Nature – Climate and Water.
- Climate Change from the
BBC Weather Centre.
- Australian Climate Forum, ‘Climate and Climate Change’, e-Carbon
News.
- CO2
News
- Spencer Weart, The discovery of global
warming, June 2006, a book that discusses the history of climate
change research.
- RealClimate a commentary site
on climate science by working climate scientists.
- Sharon Begley, 'The
truth about denial', Newsweek, 13 August 2007.
- Alan Dupont & Graeme Pearman, Heating
up the planet Climate Change and Security, Lowy Institute, Paper
no. 12, 2006.
- Steve Davidson, ‘A
view of dangerous climate change’, Ecos,
April-May 2006, pp. 28-3.
- Erwin Jackson, Josh Meadows
& Chris Smyth, ‘New
urgent threats to the reef!’, Habitat
Australia, April 2006, v.34(2), Pages: 12-13.
- Jeggrey Kluger, 'Global
warming: what now?', Time Australia, 9 April 2007, v.13,
pp. 34+.
- 'Global
warming', Time Australia, 3 April 2006, no. 13, pp. 14+
- a collection of 5 articles.
- Allen Consulting Group,
Deep
Cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Economic, Social and Environmental
Impacts for Australia, March 2006.
- Report presented to
the United Nations, 27 February 2007, by the Scientific Expert Group
on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Confronting Climate
Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable
and press
release.
- Adapting
to climate change: What's needed in poor countries, and who should pay,
Oxfam International, 29 May 2007 and press
release.
- Jeffrey McGee and Ros Taplin,'The
Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate: a complement
or competitor to the Kyoto Protocol', Global Change, Peace &
Security, v. 18, no. 3, October 2006, pp.173-192.
- Ingrid Barnsley, 'Dealing
with change: Australia, Canada and the Kyoto Protocol to the Framework
Convention on Climate Change', The Round Table, v. 95,
no. 385, July 2006, pp. 399-410.
- Robert N. Stavins, 'Forging
a more effective global climate treaty [Kyoto Protocol]', Environment,
December 2004, v.46(10), pp. 23-30.
- United Nations Environment Program, Global
Outlook for Ice and Snow, 3 June 2007.
- The Society of Environmental Journalists - Climate
change: A guide to the information and disinformation.
- Impacts
of Climate Change on Australian Marine Life, Editors: Alistair
J. Hobday, Thomas A. Okey, Elvira S. Poloczanska, Thomas J. Kunz, Anthony
J. Richardson, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, report to the
Australian Greenhouse Office , Department of the Environment and Heritage,
September 2006.
- PMSEIC Independent Working Group 2007, Climate
Change in Australia: Regional Impacts and Adaptation
– Managing the Risk for Australia, Report Prepared for the
Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation
Council, Canberra, June 2007.
- UNESCO, 'Retrospective
on climate change', A world of science, 5th anniversary
issue, October 2007.
Comments to: Science,
Technology, Environment and Resources Section
Last reviewed
7 December, 2009
by the Parliamentary Library Web Manager
Commonwealth of Australia
Parliament of Australia Web Site Privacy
Statement
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