Speaking at the recent Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia conference in Melbourne, Dr Tony Press, CEO of Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC, provided a prognosis on the current science concerning climate change.
“The global mean sea level has been rising steadily since the 1800s,” he said. “By the end of this century it will rise another 0.8m with the possibility of higher sea level rises.
“As oceans have become warmer they have expanded – this has accounted for much of the historical sea level rise we have seen.
“Sea level rises will particularly impact coastal infrastructure, such as ports, airports and sewerage plants, and raise concerns about the location of new infrastructure such as desalination plants.”
He said that with increased warming over the land and towards the poles, Arctic sea ice is disappearing at a rate not anticipated ten years ago.
“Alongside it is predicted that there will be a general decrease in rainfall in subtropical regions where much of the world’s agriculture is concentrated,” Dr Press said.
“We know a lot more about climate and climate change than we did 20 years ago and are now very confident that much of the observed warming of the planet can be attributed to human activity.
“Ice cores taken in Antarctica provide accurate interpretations of atmospheric composition including carbon in the atmosphere.
“We can track the increase in carbon since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.”
Dr Press said that the Antarctic is the engine room of the world’s ocean circulation and therefore its climate.
“The great world currents originating from the Antarctic have an enormous influence on world climate,” he said. “Measuring the changes to these currents as they feed into the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans indicates that deep water is becoming colder and fresher. If these changes continue, these waters may not have the ability to travel as far as they had previously.’
