Australia to face more fires, severe cyclones and flooding surges with climate change underway

AUSTRALIA will suffer more extreme bushfires and floods as climate change heightens the severity of natural hazards, a national security inquiry has been warned.

AUSTRALIA will suffer more extreme bushfires, a longer fire season as well greater deluges of flooding rains, sea surges and displaced persons as climate change heightens the severity of natural hazards, a parliamentary national security inquiry has heard.

And such will be the frequency and ferocity of future multistate emergencies, disaster management call outs will put pressure on emergency help notably from the Australian Defence Force.

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade committee inquiry into the implications of climate change for the nation’s national security has concluded that not only does climate change exist but is already impacting national resources.

Bushfires have wreaked havoc in Victoria's southwest.

Addressing the committee for the first time under the newly formed Home Affairs Department umbrella, Emergency Management Australia director general Mark Crosweller told the inquiry climate was a threat multiplier that might create instability in Australia and the broader region.

He said in his 34 years in the industry it’s only been in the past five years he’s been forced to deploy resources across states, notably to Western Australia.

Firefighters gather on a road near Cobden in Victoria.

“It’s not that Western Australia can’t cope per se; it’s that the pressure on resources, the stretch of resources and the extent of fire in the landscape warrants an interstate response,” he said.

He concluded: “Climate change is heightening the severity of natural hazards. We are already seeing increasingly frequent and intense extreme heat events, and we will see more extreme fire weather and a longer fire season, increased rainfall and rises in sea level amplifying the effects of high tides and storm surges. Projections suggest that fewer tropical cyclones will form in the southern hemisphere than are currently observed but that a higher proportion of those will become more intense.”

DFAT’s environment ambassador Patrick Suckling told the inquiry climate change conditions were already underway.

Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel assisted the community of Ingham, north Queensland, after the area was hit with floods.

Defence also said it recognised climate change and the impact it was having on resources.

It came as the ADF yesterday announced a joint task force of 400 personnel including 50 US Marines in response to Darwin’s cyclone recovery effort.

The Defence Department’s Air Vice Marshal Mel Hupfeld said the scale of climate change impacts and level of response required from defence forces, were now critical considerations in defence strategy and “preparedness settings” .

“We also agree climate change is a threat multiplier, exacerbating existing threats to human security, including geopolitical, socio-economic, water, energy, food and health challenges that diminish resilience and increase the likelihood of conflict,” he said.

“Defence preparedness modelling indicates a trend of increasing frequency and scale of defence support to humanitarian and disaster responses. Despite the introduction of new capabilities, this is forecast to lead to additional concurrency and sustainability management pressures in generating forces for defence operations.”

The inquiry is expected to finish next month and report later in the year.

Originally published as Australia to face more fires, severe cyclones and flooding surges with climate change underway