Australia's Settlements and Infrastructure - Impacts of Climate Change
Most of Australia's settlements and infrastructure are concentrated in cities and large urban centres where nearly two-thirds of our population live. The rest of us live in smaller towns and remote settlements. With approximately 80% of Australians now living within 50 km of the coast, coastal settlements are becoming increasingly important in terms of population growth and investment. Australia's inland settlements, however, continue to play a key economic and cultural role.
Climate change is likely to result in rising sea levels, more intense storms and cyclones, reduced water availability in Southern and Eastern Australia, and more heat waves. The likely impacts on human settlements include increased costs of managing water resources, increased energy demand, more damage to infrastructure and housing, increased insurance risk, more vector-borne and food-borne diseases, and increased stress on stormwater management systems. Current urban trends may be increasing the vulnerability of settlements to climate change.
Settlements are complex systems that are affected by a number of internal and external pressures and the impacts of climate change on settlements and their infrastructure should be considered in the context of this complexity. Vulnerability to climate change will vary considerably from settlement to settlement and within settlements. The type, size and structure, location, socio-economic characteristics and institutional arrangements are key factors that affect vulnerability and adaptive capacity of a settlement.
The impacts of climate change on settlements and infrastructure are likely to be widespread. Key sectors likely to be affected include energy and water supply, health infrastructure and services, transport, building, food industry, and tourism.
| Potential impacts of projected climate change |
| Increases in temperature |
- Increase in peak demand for electricity in summer. However, peak demand for winter heating is likely to decrease.
- Extreme temperatures are likely to have impacts on the production and transmission of energy. Higher temperatures are likely to affect the transmission efficiency of powerlines. Higher water temperatures (combined with reduced water availability) will result in decreased cooling capacity for thermo-electric power generation.
- Extreme temperature events (heat waves) could cause disruptions to transport - through damage to transport infrastructure (e.g. road pavement and rails).
- Increased maintenance costs of transport infrastructure as materials need to be replaced more often and/or with more resilient ones.
- Decrease in the longevity of exterior materials of buildings and infrastructure, leading to increased maintenance and replacement costs.
- Increased cost of cooling buildings and/or retrofitting to increase energy efficiency of buildings.
- Extreme temperatures, especially heat waves, will have both direct and indirect effects on the health of vulnerable members of society (the elderly, the sick, the young and the poor).
- Increased incidence of vector-borne and food-borne diseases. Increases in temperatures (combined with alterations in rainfall) are likely to result in geographical shifts in the incidence of tropical diseases, such as malaria, Ross River and Murray Valley encephalitis and dengue, into areas where they do not currently occur.
- Increased the risk of bushfire.
- Drier conditions associated with higher temperatures (combined with decreased rainfall) will result in more frequent dust storms.
- Higher temperatures (and decreased rainfall) will make large water reservoirs more susceptible to toxic algal blooms.
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| Altered rainfall patterns |
- Changes in annual rainfall patterns
- Changes in the availability and quality of water supply. Settlements in areas where rainfall decreases (combined with higher temperatures) will experience decreases in supply.
- Decreases in rainfall (combined with higher temperatures) is likely to reduce water quality through increased risk of algal blooms in water storage dams.
- Decreases in rainfall and increased periods of drought, especially in inland settlements, will increase disruption to socio-economic infrastructure and human wellbeing.
- Decreases in rainfall (combined with higher temperatures) is likely to increase the cost of maintenance of public green spaces, parks and playing fields in settlements.
- Changes in intense rainfall events
- Increases in rainfall may exceed the coping capacity of current stormwater and wastewater systems, leading to flooding and associated damage to infrastructure and property.
- More intense rainfall events could result in flooding of sewerage systems and may cause contamination of water supply.
- Heavy rainfall events and flooding could result in higher concentrations of accumulated pollutants being flushed into streams, lakes and the ocean from settlements.
- More intense rainfall may increase damage to infrastructure and buildings in areas vulnerable to landslides and severe erosion events.
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| Altered frequency of extreme weather events |
- Increased incidences of disruptions to key services, such as electricity supply and transport.
- Increased damage to physical and socio-economic infrastructure and human wellbeing.
- Insurance costs for extreme event damage are likely to increase.
- Higher accident rates, particularly on roads but also in the maritime shipping and aviation sectors.
- Increased risk of post-event disease outbreaks and other health-related impacts.
- Increased incidences of outbreaks of water-borne diseases, such as cryptosporidiosis and Giardiosis (from extreme rainfall).
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| Sea level rise |
- Increased chance of damage to coastal buildings, infrastructure and recreational facilities through storm surges and flooding.
- Increased risk of high salinity in some coastal areas resulting in reduced productivity of land, as well as damage buildings and infrastructure.
- Increased risk of salination of surface and groundwater sources in coastal areas.
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Climate change in Western Port, Victoria: An integrated assessment of impacts on regional settlements and adaptation response
Project description:
- The project will explore the impact of climate change and adaptation options for priority issues such as housing, infrastructure siting and planning across the diversity of settlement patterns in the region.
Project management: Western Port Greenhouse Alliance (a consortium covering five local government areas south east of Melbourne - Bass Coast, Cardinia, Casey, Frankston and Mornington Peninsula), Marsden Jacob Associates
Project partners: Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, Western Port Greenhouse Alliance
Integrated study of climate change impacts on Canberra and region, and comparison with impacts on rural Victorian towns
Project description:
- The project will compare the vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity of settlements, in the ACT and its surrounding region, inland settlements in Victoria and Darwin.
- The project will analyse urban structure and form, and key demographic and socio-economic variables that influence vulnerability to climate change and the community's ability to adapt to climate change.
Project management: ANU Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies
Project partners: ANU, ACT Government, NT Government, Cooma-Monaro Shire Council, Quesnbeyan City Council, City of Greater Bendigo Council, and Victorian Government.
Integrated assessment and responses in sea level rise impacts on Clarence foreshore, Tasmania
Project description:
- The project will assess the impacts of sea level rise on its foreshore area.
- The project will build on coastal vulnerability assessments completed in 2004 and will develop integrated methods and approaches of relevance to other small coastal communities.
Project management: Clarence City Council, Tasmania
Project partners: Clarence City Council, Tasmanian Government
Climate change, health impacts and urban adaptability: a case study of the Gold Coast region
Project description:
- The project will use the Gold Coast region as a case study area to understand the interaction between climate change and health impacts/vulnerabilities in Australian cities. It will also assess urban adaptability and response, and governance arrangements, especially health infrastructure and services planning options in terms of urban and regional planning and management.
Project management: Urban Research Program, Griffith University
Project partners: Gold Coast City Council, Queensland Office of Urban Management, Queensland Government
Systems approach to regional climate adaptation strategies in metropolises, using Sydney as an example
Project description:
- The project will enable the development and testing of a systems approach to regional climate change adaptation strategies in a large urban area.
- Information will be generated on the likely impacts of climate change for the Sydney region and adaptation strategies appropriate for this region, through scenario modelling and analysis of adaptive capacity.
Project management: Sydney Coastal Councils Group (15 local councils located on the coast or adjacent to the Parramatta River)
Project partners: Sydney Coastal Councils Group, CSIRO
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