During the election campaign Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasised the increase in extreme weather events and the impact it has had on the economy.
Mr Albanese said that although every weather event may not be caused by climate change, the science is clearly indicating a future of intensified environmental disasters.
“The science told us the events would be more extreme, and they’d be more frequent. That is what we are seeing playing out. Whether it be increased bushfires, flooding, extreme weather events that are having an impact,” Mr Albanese said during an election debate with the then Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Mr Albanese’s response reflects data derived from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), that indicates disasters such as bushfires have been predicted to become more frequent, severe and unpredictable.
Reports constructed by the Commonwealth Science Industrial Research Organisation in response to data summaries found in BoM’s Forest Fire Danger Index can confirm a predicted gradual increase in days where fire weather is expected to be categorised as ‘high’ and above.
Source: Climate Change in Australia
The Australian fire season has seen a 20 per cent increase in extreme fire events over the last 40 years, and the seasonal fire periods have also extended; for example, in New South Wales, the bushfire season now lasts nearly 8 months.
Source: Climate Change in Australia
According to BoM, 2024 was Australia’s second-hottest year on record going back to 1910, where the average temperature across the country was 1.46C above the long-term average.
Source: BoM and the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
BoM’s data is drawn in correlation to Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts Emissions Inventories, where temperature anomalies have recently remained, on average, higher than previous years.
University of Wollongong student in conservation biology, Jodi Camilleri said that young people wanted to elect a leader who was willing to acknowledge the environmental disaster Australia is facing.
“It’s [climate policy] a make or break issue for me… at least Albo can say it how it is,” Miss Camilleri said.
“Having a government that does not value climate policy, for me, is a government that doesn’t care about this country.”
Additional reporting by Bailey Whitton