Joint media release: 2024 State of the Climate Report

The Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Science and Industry

The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Environment and Water

The Hon Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate Change and Energy

The Albanese Government has today welcomed the release of the State of the Climate Report 2024.

The report, prepared every two years by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, reveals Australia’s emissions have declined over the past 15 years.

However, Australia is projected to see continued warming over the coming decades, with more extremely hot days and fewer extremely cool days.

The report also noted a continuation of long-term trends identified in 2022, including an increase in extreme heat events, longer fire seasons, more intense heavy rainfall and sea level rise.  

Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are at the highest levels seen on Earth in at least two million years, the report says. This is causing Australia’s climate to warm and 8 of the 9 warmest years on record in Australia have occurred since 2013.

The report also documents the continuing acidification of the oceans around Australia, which have also warmed by an average of 1.08°C since 1900.

The greatest ocean warming in the Australian region has occurred in the Coral Sea and off southeast Australia and Tasmania, where more rapid warming trends have occurred over the past 4 decades.

The warming of our oceans is contributing to longer and more frequent marine heatwaves, and this trend is expected to continue.

This is why the Albanese Government is taking real action on climate change and implementing real policies right now, like the reformed Safeguard Mechanism and National Vehicle Efficiency Standards.

We are embracing Australia’s abundant natural resources, including some of the best solar and wind in the world, to deliver our Reliable Renewables Plan – the only plan supported by experts to provide the clean, cheap, reliable and resilient energy system that Australians deserve.

All of this is in stark contrast to Peter Dutton’s Coalition, who have disowned a 2030 target, threatened to pause the rollout of new renewables, and are advocating for a nuclear scheme that won’t come online until the 2040s at the earliest – as experts confirmed on day one of the House Nuclear Committee on Nuclear Energy.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic MP:

“This report is difficult reading, particularly the longer-term climate trend lines.

“It’s why scaling up wind, battery and solar power has never been more important.

“Our world-class scientists continue to work on climate solutions which will create sustainable Aussie industries and more well-paid secure jobs. “

Quotes attributable to Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek MP:

"This report confirms what we already knew – that there are huge challenges facing Australia from a changing climate.

“That’s why the Albanese Government has done more on climate and environment than any government in Australian history.

“As environment minister I’m approving renewable energy projects at record rates – I’ve ticked off over 60 renewable energy projects which produce enough energy to power over 7 million homes, with record numbers in the pipeline.

“Australians have a choice at the next election – a renewable energy transition that is already underway, or an expensive nuclear fantasy that will see coal-fired power stations operate longer.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen MP:

"The latest State of the Climate Report reiterates the urgent need to act on climate change.

“The experts could not be clearer – we are seeing more extreme heat events, longer fire seasons, more intense rainfall and sea level rise – and this will only get worse without real, actionable plans to drive down emissions.

“This is not about policy ideas driven by slogans that won’t survive contact with reality.  Only the Albanese Government has a credible plan to act on climate change and reap the economic opportunities of the clean energy transformation.

“Our plans are purposely ambitious, but they are achievable and in stark contrast to an Opposition that includes outright climate deniers and science sceptics dressing up their anti-renewables ideology as a nuclear scheme that locks in more fossil fuels and won’t be operational until the mid-2040s, a decade past our point of no return.”

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

KEY FINDINGS IN THE REPORT

• Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.51 ± 0.23 °C since national records began in 1910
• Sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.08 °C since 1900
• The warming has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events over land and in the oceans
• In the south-west of Australia there has been a decrease of around 16% in April to October (growing season) rainfall since 1970. Across the same region, May to July rainfall has seen the largest reduction, by around 20% since 1970
• In the south-east of Australia, there has been a decrease of around 9% in April to October rainfall since 1994
• Heavy short-term rainfall events are becoming more intense
• There has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and a longer fire season, across large parts of the country since the 1950s
• There has been an increase in rainfall and streamflow across parts of northern Australia since the 1970s
• There has been a decrease in the number of tropical cyclones observed in the Australian region since at least 1982
• Sea levels are rising around Australia, including more frequent extreme high levels that increase the risk of inundation and damage to coastal infrastructure and communities. Global mean sea level is increasing, having risen by around 22 centimetres since 1900. Half of this rise has occurred since 1970
• Oceans around Australia are becoming more acidic, with changes happening faster in recent decades
• The ice sheets and ice shelves of Antarctica and Greenland are losing ice due to a warmer climate, which is contributing to global sea level rise
• There has been an abrupt decrease in Antarctic sea-ice extent since 2015, after a small increase over the period from 1979 to 2014
• Globally, 2023 was the warmest year on record. Australia’s warmest year was in 2019

FUTURE CLIMATE

• Sea level rise to continue, coastal floods to become more frequent 
• Marine heatwaves to be more frequent and intense 
• Climate to become warmer, more heatwaves, fewer cool days 
• Impacts from storms to be amplified by higher sea levels and heavier rainfall 
• Cool season rainfall decline in southern and eastern Australia to continue in most places 
• Heavy rainfall to become more intense, particularly hourly and sub-hourly downpours
• Longer fire season and more dangerous fire weather