Tasmania and Climate Change

The Bureau of Meteorology has recently released its annual climate statement for the year 2014 and has shown that this past year was in fact Tasmania's second hottest year on record. Average temperature for the year was about 0.8 degrees Celsius above the normal average with the daytime temperature about 1.09C above average (ABC). The report also stated that 2014 was the 12th driest year for Tasmania, with several smaller areas reporting their driest year on record. Like many other countries around the world, Tasmania is feeling the effects of climate change. Scientists predict that a sea level rise of 1.1 meters (which is very possible) combined with severe weather and storms may in fact cause billions of dollars in damage to the country's coastal areas (Department of the Environment). Warmer temperatures in the waters surrounding Tasmania have already disrupted the marine ecosystem, causing many species to migrate to areas of Tasmania not normally inhabited by that particular species and leaving many endemic fishes facing the possibility of extinction. In class, one of the associations with Tasmania that we discussed was the fact that Tasmania is very far away from our comfortable home in California. Despite its distance, Tasmania still suffers similar consequences of climate change as does California (exemplified by our recent severe drought). However, Tasmania's inhabitants are incapable of producing the plethora of greenhouse gases that plague our planet. In fact, the United States is responsible for approximately 19% of the world's carbon emissions released into the atmosphere (EPA) that have caused the hotter climates around the world. Thus, our actions, all the way over in California, still have the ability to reach and drastically affect countries that seem so distant, such as Tasmania. We, as a country, can have a significant impact on the rest of the world and thus we have a responsibility to refrain from such externalities and consider the earth as a whole.

Jessica Tam

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-06/2014-tasmania27s-second-warmest-year-on-record/6002232 http://www.climatechange.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science/climate-change-impacts/tasmania http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/global.html