Australia experienced its first cooler than average year for a decade in 2011, defying an established trend to higher temperatures, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The Australian Annual Climate Statement 2011 shows that the continent’s averaged mean temperature in 2011 was 0.14 degrees below the long-term average, largely because of the cooling effects of cloud and rain.
The latest year was the third coolest since 1985, with maximum temperatures 0.25 degrees below normal and minimum temperatures averaging 0.03 degrees below. By contrast, globally 2011 was the hottest recorded for a year that began with a La Nina event. Australia saw consecutive La Ninas in 2010 and 2011 that lashed the continent with violent storms, bringing mean rainfall of 699 millimetres in the latest year, the third wettest since 1900. Rain-influenced cooling was most pronounced in northern Australia while 2011 was the warmest on record over south-west Western Australia, including Perth, as well as South Australia.
There were numerous record maximums in the two states, with Roebourne, WA, recording 49.4 degrees and Woomera, SA, 48.1.
However, cooler weather overall for the year did not stop a continuing rise in the 10-year average temperature, which is more indicative of climate variability. “Despite the slightly cooler conditions in Australia in 2011, the country’s 10-year average continues to demonstrate the rising trend in temperatures," the statement concludes.
With the decade to 2011 the hottest recorded, at 0.52 degrees above the long-term average, business is also beginning to react and adapt to changing conditions and the prospect of a carbon tax.
Because the south-west of Western Australia experienced its warmest year in 2011, it is perhaps no surprise that adaption by climate-affected business is most advanced there.
More than 250,000 hectares of WA’s southern agricultural regions have been turned over to cropping from mixed-use farming, while further north the trend has been towards running more livestock.
Similar changes from cropping to mixed farming are under way in Victoria, according to Snow Barlow, an agricultural scientist based at Melbourne University.
Practices are also changing in the wine industry to reduce grape exposure to sunlight or, in the case of larger companies such as Victoria’s Brown Brothers, to produce in cooler areas.
“There are a lot of people who are adapting while the bigger corporates are making basic decisions about what they will be doing in future," said Professor Barlow, convenor of the Primary Industries Adaption Research Network.
“This climate report shows us we really are on this pathway . . . what is really important is to get into the philosophy of adaption."
The insurance sector has been one of the first-movers as more than 95 per cent of Australia’s most costly disasters are weather related. While the chief executive of Insurance Australia Group,
All applicants for property insurance must go through an insurance calculation process to protect against under-insurance, which is common.
IAG’s NRMA group also offers a Home Plus product allowing consumers in vulnerable areas to buy a higher level of cover. “Price signals are an important factor in consumers’ awareness of their risk," Mr Wilkins said. The Henry tax review recommended in 2009 that all extras fees on insurance products should be abolished, including fire services levies.
Kevin Hennessy, a senior research scientist at CSIRO, said 2012 was a crucial year for business adaptation, with the introduction of a carbon tax from midyear.
“It will be interesting to see what sort of price signal that will mean for individual businesses and investment overall," Mr Hennessy said.
“But it is not all negative. There are examples of companies that have reduced their carbon emissions and saved money. There is a lot of low-hanging fruit that can provide savings." Global finance giant GE is one company that has focused on cutting emissions and has saved $100 million in energy costs since 2005.
Infrastructure is also vulnerable to climate change, and Melbourne and Sydney ports, while not directly affected by the carbon tax, have signed up to the World Ports Climate Initiative. This aims to reduce emissions by moving to renewable energy and updating equipment.
Climate change counsel for Clayton Utz David Hodgkinson said: “There are virtues in getting out there ahead of legislation and being proactive. That way you are prepared for legislation or can influence its shape when it does come."
The Australian Financial Review