The Tasmanian Government has launched major reports to help Government, business and farmers better understand the impacts of climate change.

 

The “Impacts on Agriculture” and “Water and Catchments” reports will inform future decision-making as part of the Climate Futures for Tasmania project.

 

The Impacts on Agriculture report examines the impact of changes to climate indices such as frost, drought, chilling and growing-degree on key agricultural sectors such as perennial horticulture, pasture production, grain crops, wine and issues around biosecurity.

 

The Water and Catchments report indicates there will be changes to runoff, particularly seasonal runoff across Tasmania, with subsequent changes to large irrigation storages and catchment areas.

 

These results show that despite some changes Tasmania will continue to maintain a water advantage in comparison to other regions in Australia.

 

The newly established Climate Change Adaptation Unit is coordinating the communication of the climate change impacts information released to government, industry, community groups and individuals.

 

The Tasmanian Government is a major funding partner in the Climate Futures for Tasmania project along with the Commonwealth Government, the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre (ACE CRC) and Hydro Tasmania.

 

The reports, as well as Climate Futures for Tasmania results available on the Land Information System Tasmania (LIST) can be found at www.climatechange.tas.gov.au