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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.
    • The Kyoto Protocol - Following the UNFCCC, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions of industrialised countries. The Protocol was negotiated in December 1997 in Kyoto in Japan. Signatory nations, including most of the developed nations (listed in Annex B of the Protocol), adopted the Protocol on 10 December 1997. The Kyoto meeting was collectively known as Conference of the Parties (3) or COP3. Australia signed the Kyoto Protocol in New York, 24 April 1998, but has not ratified the Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005.

    -  Status of Ratification.

  • 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

Key International Organisations

Climate Change ‘Skeptics’

Climate Change and National Security

Selected Further Reading

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