Climate Change Assignment Sample
Question
Task:Your task is to write a report that examines the ways in which climate change is predicted to impact upon your home city. What you consider to be your home city should be the one closest to your heart – it is not necessary to be where you were born or have lived the longest.
The basic changes that you must cover are changes in precipitation, sea level, humidity, wind and temperature. Your report must cover social impacts, and you have to integrate regional considerations including water supplies, food supplies and refugee movements. You should include the readily apparent adaptations or actions briefly that are taken likely to mitigate the impacts– but this is not the primary focus of the task. Climate
Climate change projections are typically discussed against a series of different reference years (e.g. 2030, 2050, 2100) because some regions will experience different impacts at different times (rather than just increasing severity of each) – so make sure your report considers this variability over at least two of the projected times.
If your home city has already developed a climate change risk assessment or adaptation plan, your report should find a different angle to consider the issue from. It is not acceptable to take a single report as your only reference source. If you feel the amount of work already completed for your chosen city leaves you no room for originality, then you may wish to choose a different city that you’re familiar with. Your
Answer
Introduction
In each and every country, climate is changing continuously and this change is affecting every region. Basically, there are many reasons for the climate change. One of the key reasons of climate change is human actions i.e. agricultural clearance, flaming of fuel oils and coal and natural gases land etc. The result of these actions are raising global sea level, melting ice and snow on mountains and high temperature in the environment. Climate change is one of the key problems faced by each country (Palin, 2017). Climate change can be defined as changes in the environment of the earth over the time. Some of the researchers have defined the climate change as the results of natural processes of the earth and on the other hand, some of them have defined it as the consequences of human activities. In the climate changes, extreme rainfall, changes in the temperature and extreme weather conditions are included. This Climate change assignment focuses on the impact of climate change on the home city. The Climate change assignment includes social impacts in the city on food supplies, water supplies and refugee movements. For the discussion, an Australian city Sydney is selected.
Climate change affecting Australia
Due to climate change, not only few countries, but also whole world is affected. Changes in the climate and atmosphere affect various cities including communities, ecosystem and industries also. It is well-known that there is high level of heat in the environment and the level of rain fall is continuously decreasing since last few years (Milman, 2015). Decreased level of rainfall is the critical issue which is affecting the world. Australia is also facing the issue of climate change in terms of global warming which negatively impact the community, environment and economy of the country. Along with this, extreme weather events and bush fires are also affecting Australia in negative manner. Australia faces number of economic and environmental impacts due to climate change in wide range of sectors (CSIRO, 2013).
Impact on Sydney
There are various cities in Australia that are affected by climate changes. More than two third of population in Australia is living in the cities and economic activity of the country is generated by the cities. Natural disasters and climate change impact on the locations and designs of the cities. Basically, climate change is the challenge for the wide range of private and publicly owned assets.
Changes in rainfall: Australian rainfall is highly variable and long-term changes in the rainfall pattern have been observed. In the Sydney region, there are high rainfall variability and multilayer droughts. According to Australian Green House Office (AGO), Australia will face some level of climate change over next 50 years. The changes in rainfall and inflows to dams will impact on water utilities also (Commonwealth of Australia, 2018). Demand of water increasing for the production of crops but due to decrease in rainfall level, there would not be sufficient amount of water. So, this would impact on the survival of people.
Sea level:
Temperature: Sun is the greatest source of climate system and energy on the earth. It is observed that there are small changes in heat of sun. Scientists have suspected that the heat of sun would increase in upcoming years. High level of heat the can be the cause of negative impact on the climate and people living in the city (Adams & Trieu, 2015). Along with this, high level of sun rays can be the cause of global warming and temperature would be warmer in all the layer of atmosphere. The reason is that greenhouse gases are getting heat in lower environment. Further, scientists have estimated that heat will increase more by 2020 (CSIRO, 2015).
Wind: High winds in Sydney region are linked with various climate systems like ex-tropical cyclone, thunderstorms and frontal system. Thunderstorm frequency is connected to those storms that impact Sydney on the annual basis. Larger number of thunderstorms creates winds of at least 50 km per hour due to which significant damage takes place in the city. Along with this, ex-tropical cyclones will increase by 2030 which would have negative impact on Sydney (Whigham, 2015).
Impact of climate change on Sydney
Climate change creates many challenges in all over the world and this Climate change assignment basically focuses on Sydney. Due to climate change, there can be various risks like water stress, lack of food security, risk on human health etc. Some of the challenges are discussed below:
Impact on food security- Climate change has significant impact on the food security. Because of high temperature and low level of rainfall, production of agriculture can be affected. Agriculture is completely dependent on the timings of rainfall but high level of heat and unavailability of water can decrease the productivity of crops (Sharp, 2009).
Water situation- Due to high temperature, the pattern of rainfall is completely changing. The rain fall is changed because of urbanization, deforestation and agriculture practices and this is creating scarcity of water in the city. Global warming is the cause of water security and the problem of water security would impact Sydney in terms of quality and quantity development (Cai, 2010).
Impact on human and refugee movements- Climate change has significant impact on movement of human beings from their residents. The reason is that there will be high level of health problems in future due to climate changes. Number of death will be more due to air pollution so refugee will move from there. Along with this, high temperature and increased risk of disease and infection would impact on refugees and they would move from the city (Australian Academy of Science, 2018).
Adaptation plan
In Sydney, impact of climate change can be seen clearly on overall city and impact of the environmental changes is increasing continuously. Overall country is contributing in minimizing the impact of climate change on various regions. Various researchers have stated that developed countries are accountable for the climate change. In such case, developed countries must try to decrease the negative impact of environmental changes on people. So, Sydney is also trying to enhance the way of sustainable development. Sydney should adopt the national action plan for the climate change. Australia is the responsible country in the world so Sydney should support at the global level in terms accurate use of technology by 2030. Further, Sydney must focus on the efficient and clean technologies so that the problem of climate change can be managed (Bürger, Murdock, Werner & Cannon, 2012).
Proposed measurements: The government has taken initiatives in terms of extreme weather events that focus on psychological and physical health of individuals affected by climate change. The country is preparing cities for responding natural disasters but the impact of climate change is putting extreme pressure in managing these events. Sydney is contributing the impact of negative gases but there is the need of effective actions to manage the issue of climate change (Hallegatte, 2009). Sydney needs to adopt wide range of approaches and measures to create alert about the climate changes among the people of city. Along with this, various departments must conduct effective events so that forests and lands in Sydney region can be protected (Commonwealth of Australia, 2018).
Conclusion
Based on the overall discussion in this Climate change assignment, it is observed that one of the key reasons of climate change is human actions i.e. agricultural clearance, flaming of fuel oils and coal and natural gases land etc. Some of the researchers have defined the climate change as the results of natural processes of the earth and on the other hand, some of them have defined it as the consequences of human activities. In this Climate change assignment high level of heat in the environment and the level of rain fall is continuously decreasing since last few years. Australia is also facing the issue of climate change in terms of global warming which negatively impact the community, environment and economy of the country. High level of heat the can be the cause of negative impact on the climate and people living in the city. Global warming is the cause of water security and the problem of water security would impact Sydney in terms of quality and quantity development. Scientists have estimated that heat will increase more by 2020. Further, it is also analyzed in this Climate change assignment that Sydney is also trying to enhance the way of sustainable development. Sydney is contributing the impact of negative gases but there is the need of effective actions to manage the issue of climate change. A detailed analysis of annual metrological data is being used to reach at a valid inference in this Climate change assignment.
References
Adams, M. & Trieu, T. 2015. Impacts of land-use change on Sydney’s future temperatures (Online). Available from: file:///C:/Users/Dell/Downloads/Impacts%20of%20Landuse%20Change%20on%20Sydneys%20Future%20
Temperatures.pdf (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Australian Academy of Science, 2018. What are the impacts of climate change (Online). Available from: https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/science-booklets/science-climate-change/7-what-are-impacts-climate-change (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Brook, B. 2017. New maps show the risk of sea level rises to Australian cities (Online). Available from: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/new-maps-show-the-risk-of-sea-level-rises-to-australian-cities/news-story/2cd13d732b102365c9c708c4a223961f (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Bürger, G., T. Q., Murdock, A. T., Werner, S. R., & Cannon, A. J., (2012), Downscaling extremes-an inter comparison of multiple statistical methods for present climate, 25(12), 4366–4388
Cai, W., 2010. Climate Change and its impacts on water supply and demand in Sydney (online). Available from: https://www.metrowater.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/climatechange_impact_watersupply_summary.pdf (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Commonwealth of Australia, 2018. Climate change impacts in Australia (Online). Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science-data/climate-science/impacts (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Commonwealth of Australia, 2018. National Climate Resilience and Adaptation Strategy (online). Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/adaptation/strategy (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
CSIRO, 2013. Australia’s changing climate (online). Available from: https://www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au/media/ccia/2.1.6/cms_page_ media/176/AUSTRALIAS_CHANGING_CLIMATE_1.pdf (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
CSIRO, 2015. Climate change in Australia projections for selected Australian cities (online). Available from: https://www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au/media/ccia/2.1.6/cms_page_media/176/CCIA_Australian_cities_1.pdf (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Hallegatte, S., 2009. Strategies to adapt to an uncertain Climate Change. Global Environmental Change, 19(2), 240-247
Milman, O., 2015. Climate change will hit Australia harder than rest of world, study shows (online). Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/26/climate-change-will-hit-australia-harder-than-rest-of-world-study-shows (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Palin, M., 2017. Urban island heat effect: Rising temperatures in Aussie cities could create death traps (Online). Available from: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/urban-island-heat-effect-rising-temperatures-in-aussie-cities-could-create-death-traps/news-story/0b035c4707ea8f81e32ee0df4fa546bf (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Sharp, J., 2009. Low Carbon environmental goods and services: an industry analysis, UK: BERR
State of NSW and Department of Environment, 2010. Impacts of climate change on natural hazards profile Sydney/central coast region (online). Available from: file:///C:/Users/Dell/Downloads/10598CCNatHazardSydney.pdf (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
Whigham, N., 2015. A CSIRO tool shows the expected average climate in your home town in 2090 (online). Available from: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/a-csiro-tool-shows-the-expected-average-climate-in-your-home-town-in-2090/news-story/53176dd6e4941728bca8c89758bb639b (Accessed on 27th August 2018)
