35 BURDEKIN DRY TROPICS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2016-2026
REGIONAL GOALS
CLIMATE CHANGE
SNAPSHOT
Climate of the Burdekin Dry Tropics region
The Burdekin Dry Tropics region has a pronounced wet and dry season, with most rain falling between November and April. Average annual rainfall ranges from around 500mm to 1500mm however this varies across our region as well as year to year( Dight, 2009). This variability is linked to the El Nino Southern Oscillation and the formation of tropical low pressure systems sometimes referred to as the Monsoon Trough. Additionally, cyclones generated by low pressure systems and warm oceans can contribute significant volumes of rainfall on land( Lough, 2001).
Our region’ s coastal areas are characterised by a tropical sub-humid climate with relatively high temperatures all year round and heavier rainfall and associated higher humidity in the summer months. Higher altitude coastal ranges, particularly in the region’ s north and south, have a wet tropical climate with cooler temperatures, and rainfall is distributed more broadly across seasons. In contrast, rainfall gets progressively lower towards the west and is more variable compared to the coastal areas. The dry seasons are longer and cooler, and the wet seasons hotter and more unpredictable in these semi-arid inland
areas.
Changes to climate and its impacts
Climate change has the potential to become a major threat to the region( Lough, 2001). Whilst climate varies naturally on timescales, from millions of years to year-to-year, since the advent of the industrial age there has been a
rapid increase in temperatures, and the variability of weather events.
The International Panel on Climate Change considers that“ warming of the climate system is unequivocal”. A report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration( NOAA) shows that 2015 was the hottest year since records began in 1880, breaking 2014’ s record by a large margin, with 15 of the 16 warmest years occurring in this century( NOAA, 2016). There is now a very high degree of certainty that the world will experience greater extremes in temperature ranges with average temperatures rising, longer dry periods, more intense individual rainfall events, and more extreme river runoff events and water flow characteristics( Cubasch, et al., 2013).
A recent CSIRO technical report on climate change in Australia identified average temperature rises in the Monsoonal North region( in which the Burdekin Dry Tropics region is situated) of between 0.9˚C and 1.0˚C since 1910, and predicts further increases of greater than 1.3˚C by the end of the century( Moise, et al., 2015).
The CSIRO’ s Monsoonal North East report, and previous reports for northern Australia, outline the following general projected changes during the next century as a consequence of changes in the climate( Moise, et al., 2015)( Miles, 2005).
Burdekin Dry Tropics’ emissions and carbon exchange
Global, national and state initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change aim to improve the carbon exchange( carbon flux) in our atmosphere( i. e. reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon capture)( Kricher, 2011). On 12 December 2015, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, 196 countries( including