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Australia just had its hottest year on record. The average temperature across the country in 2005 was 22.89 C (73.2 F), or 1.09 C (1.96 F) above the mean temperature for 1961-90. The government's main research body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, predicts average temperatures in Australia will rise further -- between 1 C and 6 C (up to 10 F) by 2070. It says the rising temperatures will largely be caused by higher concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Scientists say such a rise would cause warmer seas and contribute to the destruction of the world's largest coral formation, the Great Barrier Reef. It would also lead to many more of the wildfires that strike annually during Australia's searing summer, and to the deaths of as many as 15,000 more people each year by 2100 from heat-related illnesses. Global warming has hit Australia hard because of its location as a mid-latitude country with a history of climactic extremes such as droughts and floods, according to scientists and environmentalists. It also is the driest inhabited continent -- only Antarctica is drier -- so any declines in rainfall or temperature increases have a greater impact on water supplies and agriculture, among other issues.
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Australia's government acknowledges that temperatures are rising, but Australia and the United States are the only industrialized nation not to sign the Kyoto pact. The government says emission control targets would cause economic hardship to Australia's energy-dominated industries by driving up commodity prices. It also argues that forcing countries like India and China to set emission targets would contribute to poverty by limiting access to cheap energy sources like coal. In January, Australia, the United States, China, India, South Korea and Japan pledged to reduce greenhouse gases through voluntary measures at the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development And Climate. They agreed to work with private companies and international lending agencies to expand markets for investment and trade in cleaner, energy efficient technologies.
Environmentalists say that pact is a charade because industry will never change its polluting ways through voluntary measures.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/03/14/australia.warming.ap/
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