The Changing Climate

It is clear that the global climate has changed and the reasons for this are well understood (see Global Trends ). The global changes, however, affect different regions of the world in different ways, so Australia may change in different ways or at different rates from other parts of the world. Also, changes in climate extremes - such as heatwaves and downpours - are more pronounced than changes in the average climate.

In these pages you can find the latest understanding of global change and how this is playing out in Australia, in terms of the underlying 'mean state' of the climate as well as climate extremes.

If you're looking for a succinct summary of how the climate is changing in your State or Territory - or at the national scale - take a look at the National and State Climate Statements.

As our understanding of the changing climate has increased, so has demand for new ways of looking at the changes. See the Future Climate Scenarios section for a detailed look at this issue.

Page last updated 17^th March 2021