Page 1191 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 April 2019
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I think Ms Le Couteur talked about the recent summer we have been through. I think it is worth reflecting on some of the temperature records, extremes and averages that we have seen here in the ACT. In the 94 years from 1913 to 2006, there were only nine days in Canberra above 40 degrees Celsius; so roughly one a decade. In the 12 years from 2007, there have been 16 days above 40 degrees Celsius. Of course, the January 2019 heatwave was the first recorded period of more than four consecutive days over 40 degrees Celsius. You can see there the extraordinary imbalance in those two data periods.
This January there were nine days, including five in a row above the ACT heat plan threshold and we have experienced a significantly above average number of days greater than 35 degrees Celsius in the last 12 months. The long-term average is five days. In the last year it was 27 days, of which 19 days occurred in January.
Droughts are also predicted to increase in severity and frequency. We are already experiencing greater impacts from drought. Annual rainfall for the past few years has been well below average. There are fewer rain days overall and we have been having some of the driest months on record.
Canberra’s lakes and waterways are, of course, affected by pollutants washed into drains, waterways and water bodies. Outbreaks of blue green algae pose a serious threat to human health and result in periodic closures of Canberra’s lakes caused by long periods of no rainfall and high temperatures interspersed with intense storms and high levels of runoff. In 2018 Canberra lakes and swimming areas were closed on 43 days. Again, this for me underlines an issue that I have spoken about since I first came to this place, which is the need for us to make a greater effort to protect our urban lakes and waterways from these consequences.
Storms are predicted to become more intense and cause more flash flooding. The seasonal variation of rainfall is already reported to be changing, with less winter and spring rainfall and more intense storms, particularly in February and March. These storms cause flash flooding and can reduce water quality. I think the flash flood in Canberra’s Sullivan’s Creek catchment on 25 February 2018 demonstrated the sort of impact that intense storm precipitation can have when it is such an unusual rain event with such intensity.
Bushfire weather will also increase, with the subsequent threats that arise from that. This year the declared bushfire season started earlier and will end later than ever before. Of course, we saw a similar circumstance in New South Wales in parts that had been significantly affected by drought. The bushfire season was actually declared last year from 1 August, which of course is still the formal winter period.
One of the things we need to think about in light of all this scientific data and modelling and these predictions is our community’s preparedness for these changes. The ACT has undertaken a survey of the community called “Living well with a changing climate.” It found that more than one-third of the adult population of the region have low resilience to extreme weather events. This is often the result of insufficient planning or preparation.
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