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Palaeoclimate data relating to hydroclimate variability over the past millennia have a vital contribution to make to the water sector globally. The water industry faces considerable challenges accessing climate data sets that extend beyond that of historical gauging stations. Without this, variability around the extremes of floods and droughts is unknown and stress-testing infrastructure design and water demands is challenging. User-friendly access to relevant palaeoclimate data is now essential, and importantly, an efficient process to determine which proxies are most relevant to a planning scenario, and geographic area of interest. This paper presents PalaeoWISE (Palaeoclimate Data for Water Industry and Security Planning) a fully integrated, and quality-assured database of proxy data extracted from data repositories and publications collated in Linked Paleo Data (LiPD) format. We demonstrate the application of the database in Queensland, one of Australia's most hydrologically extreme states. The database and resultant hydroclimate correlations provides both the scientific community, and water resource managers, with a valuable resource to better manage for future climate changes. Measurement(s) climate Technology Type(s) digital curation Factor Type(s) proxy type • geographic location • temporal interval • environmental material Sample Characteristic - Environment climate system Sample Characteristic - Location Earth (planet) Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16607162 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the impact of three bias correction approaches on present day means and extremes, and climate change signal, for six climate variables (precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature, radiation, vapour pressure and mean sea level pressure) from dynamically downscaled climate simulations over Queensland, Australia. Results show that all bias‐correction methods are effective at removing systematic model biases, however the results are variable and season‐dependent. Importantly, our results are based on fully independent cross‐validation, an advantage over similar studies. Linear scaling preserves the climate change signals for temperature, while quantile mapping and the distribution‐based transfer function modify the climate change signal and patterns of change. The Perkins score for all the values above the 95th percentile and below the 5th percentile was used to evaluate how well the climate model matches the observational data. Bias correction improved Perkins score for extremes for some variables and seasons. We rank the bias‐correction methods based on the Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE) score calculated during the validation period. We find that linear scaling and empirical quantile mapping are the best approaches for Queensland for mean climatology. On average, bias correction led to an improvement in the KGE score of 23% annually. However, in terms of extreme values, quantile mapping and statistical distribution‐based transfer function approaches perform best, and linear scaling tends to perform worst. Our results show that, except linear scaling, all approaches impact the climate change signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We present a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach for developing a regional scale climate adaptation plan with the health and wellbeing sector. • This includes an innovative engagement and policy mapping strategy. • We demonstrate the application of this approach for developing climate change adaptation plan for health and wellbeing sector in Queensland, Australia. • We find that direct engagement between various key stakeholders is a critical element of translating scientific evidence of climate change impacts on human health into a regional adaptation policy for the health and wellbeing sector. The science of climate change and its impacts on health makes it clear that human health and wellbeing will be increasingly negatively impacted as a result of climate change. The health and wellbeing sector must respond to these growing pressures in order to continue to provide safe, quality care. Adaptation and mitigation policies need to be developed at different scales, including at a regional government level. Numerous challenges exist; for example, the necessity for collaboration between multiple agencies across scales, the tailoring of policies to the health issues specific to regions, and constraints on existing regional and local resources and adaptive capacities, to name a few. This paper presents a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach used to develop a regional scale climate adaptation plan with the health sector. Starting from a scientific understanding of climate change impact on the health sector in Queensland, Australia, the approach used an innovative engagement strategy to a) better understand awareness of relevant stakeholders about current and future climate change impact on the health of the population and on service provision, b) identify on-ground barriers to effective adaptation faced by the sector stakeholders, c) identify opportunities and benefits which would arise from adaptation, and d) identify what conditions or support stakeholders required to overcome those barriers, take advantage of opportunities, and achieve benefits from adaptation. Analysis of these findings guided the development of specific policy directions for the sector. We found direct engagement between various key stakeholders such as health service providers (e.g. hospitals), critical infrastructure providers, academics, local government authorities, and sub-sectors such as aged care and early childhood care facilities, was a critical element of translating scientific evidence of climate change impacts on human health into a regional adaptation policy for the health and wellbeing sector. The resulting policy, grounded in the reality and experience of health and wellbeing sector stakeholders, reflects their insights and concerns, and served to develop a level of sectoral 'ownership' (not 'top-down' imposition) which will be important for its successful ongoing development and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presents a typology of emergent risk that highlights the iterative and inter-related nature of climate change risk, and propensity for impacts, such as legal action and reduced debt access, to emerge subsequent to, yet far removed from, initial physical impacts. • Highlights current practice and gaps in local government risk management concerning emergent risk. • Highlights the potential and need for local government to consider, the application of risk transfer mechanisms such as catastrophe bonds in the face of historical and conceivable climate change-perpetuated reduced access to, and increased cost of, traditional mechanisms such as insurance. • Provides insight into barriers and enablers to local government agencies gaining an appreciation of the potential application of alternative risk transfer mechanisms. Insurance represents an integral part of local government risk management strategy. As climate change progresses, increased loss and risk related to extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, could motivate insurers to withdraw from certain markets. In some regions, such a withdrawal represents an emergent risk that, when coupled with increasing populations and other climate change impacts, could leave local governments and ratepayers particularly vulnerable. This paper investigates such a scenario and its ramifications in the context of a region particularly vulnerable to climate change, through an exploration of the degree that consideration of emergent risks, such as loss of insurance, and the potential application of insurance alternatives influence Queensland local government risk management. The study finds little appreciation amongst government officials of emergent risk implicit in extreme weather events such as cyclones, little understanding of the nuances of risk transfer mechanisms beyond familiar traditional insurance and disaster funding mechanisms, and by default, a lack of appreciation of the relationship between the two. A lack of resource and leadership with respect to emergent risk, and an absence of dialogue between insurance brokers and local government concerning climate change risk arise as the main reasons for this result. This research is significant because it challenges current local government risk management practice through an exploration of the risks inherent in the process itself. This has potential social, economic and ecological ramifications in drawing attention to aspects of possible "uninsurability" and prospects of alleviation thereto. Further research is recommended to consider the insurance industry's part in this study's findings in order to inform current industry practice and thinking and further enlighten the causes of local government disengagement in this critical area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection and mapping of canopy disturbance caused by natural events such as cyclones in tropical rainforests is important for monitoring and understanding rainforest dynamics and recovery. In February 1999 tropical cyclone Rona crossed the coastline of Far North Queensland, Australia, causing significant damage to the rainforest canopy in some areas. This paper examines the application of multitemporal canopy digital elevation models (DEMs) generated by a NASA-operated airborne radar mapping system called TOPSAR in 1996 and 2000, for detection of canopy disturbance caused by cyclone damage. Canopy damage was mapped here by identifying areas with a significant decrease in canopy height estimated from the difference of the 1996 and 2000 TOPSAR DEMs. Conventional aerial photographs, flown shortly after the cyclone (March 1999), were used to validate the resulting map of cyclone damaged rainforest canopy. The results showed that the DEM-derived canopy damage map performed reasonably well when comparing the spatial distribution and size of damaged areas, while taking into account the time difference between cyclone damage and the second radar acquisition. Some errors were encountered on the steeper slopes which were related to terrain distortions inherent in radar images of steep terrain. The height accuracy of the DEM was close to the depth of some of the gaps being mapped, which also contributed to errors. Even so, the results demonstrate there may be potential for weather-independent, regional-scale mapping of forest canopy change from imaging radar that is not always possible from traditional optical means of measuring canopy elevation, for example, airborne laser data and stereo aerial photography. This may be possible in relatively flat areas, provided the second radar acquisition occurs within months of the damaging event. Further algorithm refinement is required to improve its robustness and the range of topographies where this approach can provide reliable estimates of the extent of canopy disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although planning and policy instruments are important for climate change adaptation, the implementation of these measures is critical for success. This paper studies different climate change adaptation strategies by analysing the measures adopted by stakeholders in charge of government policy development and implementation to minimise the impacts of climate change in the northern tropical region of Queensland, Australia. Local government organisations are responsible for taking a leading role in climate change adaptation. State and commonwealth government agencies are primarily responsible for developing climate transition policies and guidelines, as well as providing limited financial aid to help support the local government. Interviews were conducted with local government practitioners identified from different local government authorities in the study region. Although all the government bodies made some progress in developing better climate change adaptation policies, the interview participants identified that a lot more needs to be done, especially in implementation, including devising and the application of relevant action plans, economic assessments, stakeholder participations and engagement. From a local government practitioners' viewpoint, both the water sector and local economy will face the highest immediate impacts if climate change adaptation actions are not adequately implemented at local government level in the study region. There are currently no notable legal bindings to address climate change risks in the region. In addition, financial liability assessments due to climate risks and cost-share mechanisms among different levels of stakeholders and government authorities to face and prepare for climate change impacts hardly exist. Although the interview respondents recognise their high importance. As there are uncertainties in the achievements of climate change adaptation plans, from a local government practitioners' standpoint, the local authorities should take appropriate actions to integrate adaptation and mitigation works to face and prepare for climate risks rather than focusing only on adaptation. The respondents informed that some work has been done to identify flood prone areas and a few policy documents exist that accommodate sea level rise in planning practice, but these are done in fragments with no holistic implementation, monitoring or evaluation plans put in place. • Climate change adaptation actions are urgently needed. • The priorities and perceptions of government professionals are key to success. • Stakeholders needs to be engaged to formulate adaptation strategies. • Holistic implementation, monitoring or evaluation plans are important for success. • Climate change adaptation and mitigation measures are suggested to be integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizens' attitudes towards and their perceptions of climate change are widely believed to influence citizens' actions related to climate change. Knowledge of these attitudes and willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental improvement can be useful in designing an environmental policy. Although citizens' attitudes and perceptions are likely to affect their WTP, they are rarely included in the non-market valuation. Furthermore, over time, attitudes and perceptions of environmental issues are likely to change. An understanding of temporal stability of attitudes towards climate change could shed the light on changes in citizens' WTP for environmental quality over time. This study examined changes in perceptions, attitudes, and actions towards climate change using two surveys in Queensland, Australia. The surveys were administered 10 years apart (2009 and 2018). The effect of attitudes over time on WTP was analysed using a contingent valuation (CV) method. The results confirmed that attitudes and perceptions of climate change were important factors affecting actions of respondents. Furthermore, over time, some attitudes and perceptions changed significantly. However, only some attitudes and perceptions were significant predictors of consumers' WTP for a change in environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects a global temperature rise of 4.3 ± 0.7 °C by 2100 and an extinction of 8.5% in one out of every six species. Australia's aquatic ecosystem is no exception; habitat loss, fragmentation, and loss of biodiversity are being experienced. As the center for Nymphaea species distribution, it presents the culturally, ecologically, and scientifically important genus as the best candidate for habitat suitability assessment in climate change, whose habitat suitability is presumed to decline. The models were run according to the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) method, using one general circulation model (GCM). Projections were made for the current, past, and future in medium (4.5) and high (8.5) representative concentration pathways. Significantly, bio2 and bio15 were highly preferred among the species. Less distribution was noted in West Australia compared to the north, east, and south of the continent, while north of the continent in Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland indicate more habitat contractions compared to the east and southeast of Queensland and New South Wales, although it receives high precipitation. Generally, the species respond variably to both temperature and precipitation variables which is a key species response factor for planners and decision makers in species habitat and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fire is a major type of ecological disturbance shaping plant communities and species distributions. Fires in the spring and summer of 2019/2020 in Australia burnt large areas where this type of disturbance was rare in the past, including in the South‐East Queensland region. To assess the potential impacts of these fires, online GIS data layers were used to map where the fires occurred and which protected areas, plant communities and threatened plants were likely burnt. Based on clustering of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite sensor fire points, 3% (240,000 ha) of the region may have burnt including 107,606 ha of National Parks, sections of 18 Broad Vegetation Groups and 74 Regional Ecosystems and potential habitat of 74 threatened plant species. This included 16% of wet open forests and 13% of rainforests. The results provide preliminary insights into the potential scale of the fires and impact on biodiversity from mapping based on online data, but we also that more detailed mapping including of fire intensity and perimeter combined with ground truthing and ongoing monitoring would be required to better understand changes in fire regimes in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The incidence of salmonellosis, a costly foodborne disease, is rising in Australia. Salmonellosis increases during high temperatures and rainfall, and future incidence is likely to rise under climate change. Allocating funding to preventative strategies would be best informed by accurate estimates of salmonellosis costs under climate change and by knowing which population subgroups will be most affected. OBJECTIVE: We used microsimulation models to estimate the health and economic costs of salmonellosis in Central Queensland under climate change between 2016 and 2036 to inform preventative strategies. METHODS: We projected the entire population of Central Queensland to 2036 by simulating births, deaths, and migration, and salmonellosis and two resultant conditions, reactive arthritis and postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome. We estimated salmonellosis risks and costs under baseline conditions and under projected climate conditions for Queensland under the A1FI emissions scenario using composite projections from 6 global climate models (warm with reduced rainfall). We estimated the resulting costs based on direct medical expenditures combined with the value of lost quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) based on willingness-to-pay. RESULTS: Estimated costs of salmonellosis between 2016 and 2036 increased from 456.0 QALYs (95% CI: 440.3, 473.1) and AUD 29,900,000million (95% CI: AUD28,900,000, AUD31,600,000), assuming no climate change, to 485.9 QALYs (95% CI: 469.6, 503.5) and AUD31,900,000 (95% CI: AUD30,800,000, AUD33,000,000) under the climate change scenario. CONCLUSION: We applied a microsimulation approach to estimate the costs of salmonellosis and its sequelae in Queensland during 2016--2036 under baseline conditions and according to climate change projections. This novel application of microsimulation models demonstrates the models' potential utility to researchers for examining complex interactions between weather and disease to estimate future costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Extended drought conditions in south-east Queensland during the early 2000s have resulted in a culture of water harvesting and legislated water restrictions. Aedes notoscriptus is a container-breeding mosquito vector of Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses. Methods From 2008–2009, the larval habitats and seasonal abundance of domestic container-breeding mosquitoes were recorded from three suburbs of Brisbane. A knowledge, attitudes and practice questionnaire was administered to householders. A low-cost, desktop methodology was used to predict the proportion of shaded premises compared with front-of-property estimates. Results We highlight changes in the frequency of container categories for A. notoscriptus as a response to human behavioural changes to drought. Garden accoutrements, discarded household items and water storage containers accounted for 66.2% (525/793) of positive containers and 77.5% (73 441/94 731) of all immature mosquitoes. Of all household premises surveyed, 52.6% (550/1046) contained rainwater tanks and 29.4% (308/1046) harvested water in other containers, contrasting with a previous 1995 survey where neither category was observed. Both Premise Condition Index and shade directly correlated with positive premises. Conclusions Human response to drought has resulted in new habitats for domestic container-breeding mosquitoes. This recent trend of prolific water storage is similar to earlier years (1904–1943) in Brisbane when Aedes aegypti was present and dengue epidemics occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents an analysis of the legal resources available for the inhabitants of the islands of Torres Strait, Australia, which may help them to deal with the climate change effects on these islands. Several areas of the law are explored including the indigenous people's property rights, human rights, criminal law, and environmental protection laws.

This article revisits the debate about the processes of coastal dune initiation in Australia. A review of the dates published so far on coastal dunes in Australia indicates that these belong to identifiable process regions. Those to the north and northeast seem to be largely derived from the deflation, at low sea levels, of exposed deltaic sediments, which are subsequently reworked by episodes of active transgressive dune development. In the southeast, the dunes, like other coastal depositional features, are largely derived from the alongshore sediment transport system, which is active along this coast at times of higher sea level. Apart from during glacial maxima, episodes of dune transgression, where a source is identifiable, seem to be initiated along the shoreline, strongly suggesting that marine disturbance is the trigger. Although, in many cases, these are also at times when climate is favourable to active transgressive dune development, the eastern Cape York dune fields make it clear that this is not a necessary condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]