|
|
|
15 September 2008 'Extreme waves' worry Australia [Keyword: australia ]
Australia's coastline is increasingly being battered by extreme waves that are driven in part by climate change, government scientists say.
Research has shown that bigger waves are bearing down on the coastline as severe storms become more frequent.
The waves could threaten communities with flooding and coastal erosion.
The national science agency said a network of coastal observation sites should be established to monitor shifting wave patterns.
Climate 'hotspot'
Australia has always borne the brunt of nature's extremes, from drought to bushfires and destructive tropical cyclones.
Scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have identified an emerging threat - monstrous waves that have increasingly pummelled Australia's southern shores.
These ferocious conditions are associated with the passage of extra-tropical storms through the south of the continent.
Researchers believe that a shifting climate could be partly to blame.
They have said that Australia is vulnerable to an accelerated version of global warming, which is causing serious droughts and sudden severe storms.
This vast, arid land was recently listed by the United Nations as a climate change "hotspot".
Large towns and cities dotted along the south-eastern coast, which are home to most Australians, could suffer as a result.
There is a warning that storm surges and pounding seas will increasingly threaten those communities with flooding and erosion.
Research has shown that waves greater than 3m (9 ft) in height are becoming more common.
While acknowledging the risks, Australian Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said that larger, more active surf also presented opportunities to generate greener electricity and to produce less pollution.
Australia needs all the help it can get on that front as it is one of the world's worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases.
Source: bbc.co.uk
|
Similiar
Stories in the earthdive news database:
 |
08 February 2008: Australia release Japan whale pictures
Japan said Friday it will complain to Australia after the government released graphic pictures of bloody whaling operations, accusing Canberra of stirring up emotions. |
 |
20 January 2008: Whale sharks thriving in Australia
Whale sharks, which grow to weigh as much as two or three adult elephants, are thriving in waters off Western Australia, a new study of underwater images suggests. |
 |
11 January 2008: Australia presses Japan over whale hunt
Australia has stepped up pressure on Japan to end its controversial whale hunt in the southern ocean, dispatching a surveillance vessel that will gather evidence for a possible legal challenge to the cull. |
 |
15 March 2007: Cold water eddies discovered off Australia
Australian oceanographers have found a huge, dense mass of cold water off Sydney, but don't know what causes it or its effect on the Tasman Sea. |
 |
31 December 2006: Australian nets scuba-diving honours
A Queenslander who has spent 50 years recording marine life in Australia and overseas is to be inducted into the International Scuba-Diving Hall of Fame. |
 |
23 October 2006: Sharks further out off Australia coast
The first satellite tracking of a great white shark off the remote northwest coast has revealed that they swim deeper and further from the coast than great whites off the east coast. Scientists have watched a 500kg, 3.5m female travel 3800km from near Port Lincoln in South Australia to waters off Exmouth in four months. |
 |
08 October 2006: Australia spearheads seabed trawling ban
A Campaign led by Australia has received a boost as the US agreed to support a moratorium on fishers trawling their nets deep on the ocean floor in international waters. The US's shift in position came on the eve of a UN debate aimed at banning the practice in unregulated waters. |
 |
10 July 2006: Migaloo spotted off Australian coast
The only documented white humpback whale in the world has been sighted off the coast of Byron Bay as it migrates along the coast of Australia. |
 |
01 June 2006: Australia’s whaling warning to South Pacific nations
Australia's environment minister has warned tiny South Pacific nations they could be the focus of international outrage if they support a resumption of commercial whaling at an International Whaling Commission summit in June, a news agency reported Wednesday. |
|
|
| Previous
Year | Jan
| Feb |
Mar | Apr
| May |
Jun | Jul
| Aug |
Sep | Oct
| Nov |
Dec | Current |
| Get this as an RSS Feed |
Subscribe to this feed
You can subscribe to this RSS feed in a number of ways, including the following:
- Drag the orange RSS button into your News Reader
- Drag the URL of the RSS feed into your News Reader
- Cut and paste the URL of the RSS feed into your News Reader
|
|
|
|
