Australia’s country towns 2050: What will a climate adapted settlement pattern look like?
Authors: Andrew Beer, Selina Tually, Michael Kroehn, John Martin, Rolf Gerritsen, Mike Taylor, Michelle Graymore and Julia Law
Year: 2013
This report considers the impact of anticipated climate change on Australias inland towns and centres to the year 2050. The study found that although climate change is likely to have a wide range of impacts on Australias system of inland settlement, not all of them are likely to be adverse. It concludes that remote places confront the greatest risks from climate change, and that many but not all Indigenous communities are especially vulnerable. The project examines the ways in which non-coastal settlements will be affected by extreme climate events, a warming and drying climate over much of southern Australia and increased costs associated with both structural economic change and accelerated degradation of infrastructure. A vulnerability index was developed to distinguish places that are more, and less, vulnerable to the impacts. In addition, detailed field work was undertaken in five case studies across Australia.
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