Climate disruption is undermining the health, security and the future of Australians

Rising global temperatures are heating the oceans and atmosphere leading to record breaking flooding in Eastern Australia while parts of South Australia and Victoria are suffering from prolonged drought.

Extreme weather is leaving thousands without homes and livelihoods, according to a report – The Heat is On released today on World Environment Day by the Australian Peace and Security Forum. 

The earth is tracking towards around 2.7°C average warming by 2100, according to Dr Sven Teske Research Director at the University of Technology, Sydney. That level of warming would represent “unprecedented peril” for life on this planet.

Cardiologist Dr Arnagretta Hunter reports that climate change produces a diverse range of health challenges and impacts including heart related mortality, failing water security that results in undrinkable water, disruption to health services and shifting disease patters.

The skyrocketing cost of property damage due to extreme weather is now more than $7 billion in Australia adding to inflationary pressures due to the rapidly rising insurance premiums.  More than 35 % of properties are now uninsured, reports Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe, of Griffith University.

Indigenous leader, Professor Anne Poelina of Notre Dame university points out that Indigenous people are on the frontline of climate change.  Indigenous people make up 6% of the world’s population but remain stewards and custodians of a quarter of the worlds land surface.  She calls for a new approach to “Forever Industries” in The Kimberly region of Western Australia.

The report echoes the call of Pacific leaders who said in 2018 that ‘Climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific.’ 

In the APSF Quarterly Report, The Heat is On, a range of informed researchers and practitioners examine six key issues and offer practical suggestions: international thinking on climate and security, the state of the climate crisis, climate and health, the cost of climate disruption to Australians, the contribution of Indigenous people, and the implications for Australia of failed states in our region due to climate disruption.

The Heat is On is available for free download from here.

Contact:  Em Prof Ian Lowe 0427 278 432     Prof Anne Poelina 0408 922 155