Intensifying droughts brought on by climate change, pose alarming threats to Australia’s food and water security, according to a Climate Council report to be launched today at parliament house.
The report warns that the nation’s agricultural yields may suffer if climate action is not taken, and raises the prospect of serious water insecurity in major cities.
Perth is likely to be hard-hit, with research showing an already precarious water supply could diminish with rapidly.
Professor Will Steffen, who authored the report, told New Matilda that Perth is already looking at desalination, which is “expensive to do and requires a lot of energy”,
According Professor Steffen’s findings, Western Australia could face reductions in Autumn and Winter precipitation of around 50 per cent in the next 80 years.
The changes are largely brought on by fronts from the Southern Ocean – which trigger rain during Winter and Spring – shifting southwards and increasing the risk of drought across southern Australia.
Southeast Australia has already experienced a 15 per cent decline in late autumn and early winter rainfall since the mid-1990s, and a 25 per cent decline in average rainfall in April and May.
Thom Mitchell | newmatilda.com
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