Impacts
Other physical changes as a result of climate change are likely to include:
• I ncreases in the extent of saline soils (which may grow to cover as much as 17 million hectares by 2050) ; • D eclines in stream flow and stream water quality in southern Australia (water yields in the Murrumbidgee, Goulburn and Border river catchments down by 43–54% by 2070, and end-of-valley stream salinity concentrations up by 8–11%57).
Nonforest good cover Low ground cover Transformed ground cover
Nonforest
Forest cleared after 1972 Cleared before 1972
Nonforest, low cover
Regrowth Forest lost past 20 years
Nonforest, transformed
Forest, disturbed Regrowth
Forest cleared before 1972
Lost last 20 years Forest, undisturbed
Forest regrowth
Cleared after 1972
Variable forest Uncleared forest
Figure 8: Land cover change in Australia46
Impacts
In Australia, an increase in mean global temperature of 2°C would likely mean, amongst many impacts, the loss of the Great Barrier Reef53, 80% of Kakadu National Park’s freshwater wetlands54,55, and north Queensland’s tropical rainforests56.
26 THE AUSTRALIA WE LOVE