So on Friday while Category 2 Cyclone Alfred drifted near the Queensland coast, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fronted up to a media conference in Canberra with questions on whether global warming is making disasters worse, whether the 2035 emissions reduction targets will be released prior to the election (which is a commitment under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, not Australian law) and on Peter Dutton choosing to attend an event in Sydney than help constituents in his Brisbane electorate of Dickson prepare for the extreme weather impacts of the cyclone event.
While the Tropical Cyclone stalled over Moreton Bay becoming a tropical Low, it still brought substantial wind damage, and intense rainfall to large parts of SE Queensland and the Northern Rivers of NSW causing extensive flood emergencies. At its peak, more than 450,000 households in SE Queensland and Northern NSW lost power from the grid. Premier Crisafulli described it as the "largest ever loss of power from a natural disaster in Queensland's history". On Sunday several sites around Brisbane set new daily rainfall records.
The Queensland and NSW Governments, along with the Federal Government had been quick to prepare and warn citizens, and set in place emergency services to respond the the extreme weather impacts.
The Climate Council and independent rapid attribution climate researchers identified that global warming is a factor for Tropical Cyclone Alfred as it approached Brisbane.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, on the cyclone, is global warming making natural disasters worse?
PRIME MINISTER: Australia has always had natural disasters. We have always had that. We are a land, as Ms Mackellar said a long time ago, of floods and rains and wind. We do have impacts. What we know is the science tells us that there would be more extreme weather events, they would be more frequent and they'd be more intense. I think anyone who looks at the science knows that that is what is occurring. So, you can't say this event is just because of climate change. What you can say is that climate change is having an impact on our weather patterns. The world's hottest years have been increasing from year to year, every January it's reported. Last year was hotter, all of the hottest years have been in the last decade. I was the climate change spokesperson 20 years ago now and at that time we were reporting that and it has consistently been the case.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, based on what you've seen and heard this morning, is it about right that there is probably no immediate threat to Brisbane at this point? Wayne Swan made this comment this morning.
PRIME MINISTER: Look, this is a serious event. What we need to do is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We absolutely need to prepare for the worst. This is already having an impact and the impact with the slowing of the Cyclone Alfred in its journey westward to the coast. We should not think that slower means better. It's not clear that it could intensify as well, as it is over warmer waters it has the potential to increase the intensity of it. So we are, as a Government, I know that state governments as well, and local government and people need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. That is what we need to do.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, climate change has been falling down the list of voter priorities since the last election. Do you think Cyclone Alfred is going to change that? And will you release emission targets before the next election?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we have released our targets they’re 43 per cent -
JOURNALIST: The 2035 targets?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, according to legislation - I won't be breaking the law - and the law says we need to get the advice from the Climate Change Authority for that, it's a legal requirement that the entire Parliament voted for. We have targets, we're working towards them. I take climate change seriously and my Government takes climate change seriously.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, why are some of the concerns, concerns associated, I should say, with this weather event, in that context, do you think it was appropriate for Peter Dutton to leave Brisbane, travel to Sydney for a fundraising event, when his community and electorate was preparing for Alfred?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that’s a matter for him. I did see his comments about my responsibilities, but that's a matter for him. He can comment on his own responsibilities. I am fulfilling mine.
Watch the whole 20 minute interview here:
Global warming influencing Tropical Cyclone Alfred
The Climate Council outlined several ways that climate change is influencing Tropical Cyclone Alfred:
1. Climate change has made our oceans hotter which is driving more ferocious and destructive cyclones.
- Hotter conditions provide more fuel for extreme winds, intense rainfall and larger storms. Around the world maximum wind speeds are getting stronger for cyclones.
- The oceans on the east coast have been exceptionally hot. Sea surface temperatures were the warmest on record for each month between October 2024 and February 2025.
2. The risk of flooding damage from Tropical Cyclone Alfred is greater due to climate change.
- One of the deadliest aspects of a cyclone is when a storm pushes ocean water onto land, called a storm surge. Sea levels around Australia have risen 20cm due to climate change and so a storm surge now rides on much higher seas. The storm surge during Cyclone Alfred will be higher, and go further onto land, as a consequence of climate change.
- A hotter world is a wetter world due to more evaporation. Climate change is driving more extreme rainfall, including during cyclones. Some areas in northern NSW and southeast Queensland could experience 40% of Brisbane’s annual rainfall in 24 hours.
- There is evidence that tropical cyclones are moving more slowly across the ocean and land. That means they can linger longer over communities and dump immense amounts of rain over a small area, while also sustaining damaging windspeeds for a longer period.
- Heavy rainfall and a storm surge together exacerbates flooding, which is a major risk right now for communities in southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
3. Cyclone Alfred is tracking further south than cyclones usually do in Australia.
- Tropical cyclones normally occur in the tropics. Southern communities have rarely had to face or prepare for these sorts of events. Many homes and infrastructure in southeast Queensland are not built to withstand cyclones and the destructive winds they bring.
- Scientists are concerned that, as our oceans heat up, cyclones may track further south on the east coast.
4. Climate pollution is driving more ferocious and costly extreme weather events. While Australia is now cutting pollution, but it is not fast or far enough. We must slash climate pollution to prevent the problem from getting worse, as well as prepare communities and our infrastructure for the disasters we cannot avoid.
Rapid Climate Attribution of Cyclone Alfred by independent researchers argued that more intense rainfall in Cyclone Alfred is locally intensified by human-driven climate change.
Brisbane breaks total daily rainfall records
Marissa Calligeros at The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Brisbane breaks rain records: Highest amount of rain ever received in one day
Brisbane was lashed with intense rain throughout Sunday and into Monday morning, causing flash flooding that inundated houses, swamped cars and cut roads.
The latest figures from the weather bureau show that Brisbane received its highest ever recorded daily rainfall.
These are the 24-hour record rainfall totals for Brisbane, between 9am Sunday and 9am Monday:
- Brisbane: 275 millimetres
- Carole Park Alert: 331 millimetres
- Karalee: 296 millimetres
- Wolfdene: 289 millimetres
- Mt Gravatt: 272 millimetres
- Greenbank: 246 millimetres
- Brisbane Airport recorded its highest March daily rainfall of 176 millimetres
- Amberley also recorded a daily March record of 162 millimetres.
References
Prime Minister Press conference - Canberra - Transcript - Friday 7 March 2025 https://www.pm.gov.au/media/press-conference-canberra-21
Climate Council, 6 March 2025, Cyclone Alfred More Intense and Destructive due to Climate Change https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/cyclone-alfred-more-intense-destructive-climate-change/
Climameter, 6 March 2025, Heavy rain in Cyclone Alfred locally intensified by human-driven climate change https://www.climameter.org/20250304-05-cyclone-alfred
Sydney Morning Herald, 10 March 2025, NSW, Queensland floods live updates: Remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred continue as heavy rainfall batters Brisbane, northern NSW https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw-queensland-floods-live-updates-remnants-of-ex-tropical-cyclone-alfred-continue-as-heavy-rainfall-batters-brisbane-northern-nsw-20250309-p5li8p.html
SBS, 9 March 2025, Here's when the weather will ease after the havoc brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/cyclong-alfred-when-will-conditions-ease/yw6wb3y5q
No comments:
Post a Comment