Implications of Climate Change for Australia's World Heritage ...

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IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES: A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT World Heritage property Greater Blue Mountains Area Potential climate threats Potential impacts Management/contingency plans/knowledge gaps • Higher temperatures • Greater frequency and intensity of fire • Greater erosion and spalling processes • Change in seasonal rainfall • Higher evaporative demand • Increased carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations • The extinction of some eucalypt species from fire and higher temperatures • Possible contraction in all plant communities • Vertebrates affected by a change in forest cover • Rocky habitats may also prove to be vulnerable due to rock instability from wildfires • Change in leaf chemistry in some plant species • Reduced streamflow and higher temperatures could affect fauna and flora • More intense and more frequent fires may be potentially fatal to plant and animal species, in particular those species that do not have the ability to migrate • Heat from fire can also lead to the deterioration of karst environments (comprised of carbonate stone) by stimulating erosion and changes to chemical processes The adaptive threshold response of many fauna species to changes in vegetation cover following environmental disturbance (i.e. more intense and/or more frequent fire events, changes to seasonal rainfall and temperature) is unknown and requires further investigation. A lack of knowledge of the ecology of the approximately 1,500 plant species and the many thousands of fauna species of the property is critical. The impacts of fire coupled with changes in weather/climate—e.g. rainfall, severe storm events, wind—is critical and needs to be addressed. Urban expansion on the fringe of the natural area will exacerbate management challenges, e.g. for fire. More systematic studies are underway to examine the impact of fire on biodiversity of the Greater Blue Mountains. 19
IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR AUSTRALIA’S WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES: A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT 78 World Heritage property Purnululu National Park Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens Sydney Opera House 20 Potential climate threats Potential impacts Management/contingency plans/knowledge gaps • Temperature increase • More intense cyclone activity • Extreme weather events and flash flooding • Droughts are likely to become more frequent and severe • Wildfires • Temperature rise • Drought • Sea level rise and flooding due to storm surge • It is unlikely that climate change in the immediate term will fundamentally erode the aesthetic attributes of Purnululu, although uncertainties remain • Heightened exposure to recurrent wildfires in the spinifex plains to the east in the absence of traditional fire management regimes • Cyanobacteria are not uniform and some species are more drought tolerant than others, and less affected by temperature changes • Wildfire may increase the weathering rate of the karst • Increased CO 2 levels would not appear to pose fundamental problems for vegetation in the gardens • Possibility of accelerated deterioration of the physical fabric of the building. English Heritage has undertaken some studies on this • Sea level rise affecting building structure and fabric There is uncertainty about the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on the cyanobacteria species that create the bands in the karst formations and on the formation of crusts. A fire in Purnululu has apparently removed the bands of cyanobacteria from the karst. Some decision-makers will be unaware that climate change may affect the gardens; others will disagree about priorities relative to other locations such as the Royal Botanic Gardens. The effect of sea level rise on the building’s structure and fabric is worthy of assessment.
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