Angela Lavoipierre reported this story on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 08:18:00

MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: The Climate Council says the case for the link between climate change and severe weather events has become much stronger.



In a new report the Council states that the world's climate system is changing more rapidly than expected.



Angela Lavoipierre reports.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: The Climate Council's report gives a snapshot of the changes so far to Australia's climate, as well as changes it expects over the coming century.



The Council's professor Will Steffen paints a grim picture.



WILL STEFFEN: One of the things that we can say is that we're already seeing some impacts. Heat waves are lasting longer and starting earlier.



We're seeing in the south-east of the country high bushfire danger weather has increased significantly over the last 30 years. We've seen that sea level has risen about the global average around Australia. That's led to a threefold increase in coastal flooding.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: And then, there's what's to come.



WILL STEFFEN: If we keep, if the globe keeps emitting fossil fuel emissions like we are now, we could see up to a metre of sea level rise around Australia. That could for example make a one in a hundred year flooding event in Sydney a daily event.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: Professor Will Steffen says the influence of climate change on extreme weather events has become much clearer.



WILL STEFFEN: If you looked at the report four years, we couldn't say much of anything about that. Even two years ago.



Now we can say with high confidence for example that 2013, which was the hottest year on record in Australia, that was virtually impossible without climate change.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: The Federal Government announced earlier this month it would take a target of between 26 and 28 per cent to the global talks in Paris at the end of the year.



The baseline for the reductions would be 2005 levels.



Along with many other climate change experts, professor Steffen believes Australia's target is too low.



WILL STEFFEN: A 195 countries around the world have signed up to two degrees as the maximum they want to see temperature rise.



If you took the USA or the UK's target you would be in the ball park, you would have a fighting chance. If you kept reducing at that rate afterwards, after 2013, you'd have a fighting chance of getting there.



If you took Australia's target, you'd be heading for a three or four degree world with really serious impacts, almost surely impacts we couldn't adapt to.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: The Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt doesn't see it that way.



GREG HUNT: Well that's not analysis that I've seen to this stage.



The best analysis is that we will make significant progress at the Paris conference.



Remember this: Australia is moving from -5 per cent under Labor, to -26 to -28 per cent under the Coalition.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: Mr Hunt believes Australia's comparatively small population should be taken into account



GREG HUNT: Warwick McKibbin has made a very interesting point. He's a leading professor at ANU. He's talked about effort.



And what we see is that Australia has the highest per capita reductions of any significant country in our targets, so a massive effort.



ANGELA LAVOIPIERRE: The Climate Council's report is due to be released later this morning.



MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Angela Lavoipierre reporting.

