continent under stress: interactions, feedbacks and risks associated with impact of modified land cover on Australia's climate | Land Portal

Resource information

Date of publication: 
December 2009
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
AGRIS:US201301663771
Pages: 
2206-2223

Global climate change is the major and most urgent global environmental issue. Australia is already experiencing climate change as evidenced by higher temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts. These impacts are compounded by increasing land use pressures on natural resources and native ecosystems. This paper provides a synthesis of the interactions, feedbacks and risks of natural climate variability, climate change and land use/land cover change (LUCC) impacting on the Australian continent and how they vary regionally. We review evidence of climate change and underlying processes resulting from interactions between global warming caused by increased concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases and modification of the land surface. The consequences of ignoring the effect of LUCC on current and future droughts in Australia could have catastrophic consequences for the nation's environment, economy and communities. We highlight the need for more integrated, long-term and adaptive policies and regional natural resource management strategies that restore the beneficial feedbacks between native vegetation cover and local-regional climate, to help ameliorate the impact of global warming.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

MCALPINE, C.A.
SYKTUS, J.
RYAN, J.G.
DEO, R.C.
MCKEON, G.M.
MCGOWAN, H.A.
PHINN, S.R.

Publisher(s): 
Wiley_Blackwell_Logo.gif

Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley's Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing, after Wiley took over the latter in 2007.[1]


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