Environment of Australia
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The Australian environment ranges from virtually pristine Antarctic territory, rainforests to degraded industrial areas of major cities.
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[edit] Issues
Major environmental issues in Australia include whaling, logging of old growth forest, irrigation and its impact on the Murray River, Darling River and Macquarie Marshes, acid sulfate soils, soil salininty, deforestation, Soil erosion, Uranium mining and Nuclear waste, creation of marine reserves [1], air quality in major cities and around polluting industries and infrastructure, pesticide and herbicide impacts and growing of genetically modified food.
Increased coal mining in Australia is contentious because of the effects of global warming on Australia, emissions to air from coal burning power stations, dust, subsidence, impact on rivers like the Hunter River and other water users, failure to adequately restore mined areas, and lack of sustainability.
Climate change and global warming are of particular concern because of the likely effects of global warming on agriculture, the Great Barrier Reef and tourism industry, human health through mosquito borne disease [2]. Sea level rise could also have a profound impact on coastal communities and waterfront suburbs. The range of rises forecast by the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report would be sufficient to have impacts in many areas, and the impact if the Greenland ice cap melts faster than forecast could be disastrous.
In urban areas noise and odour are major sources of complaints to environmental protection authorities.
[edit] World Heritage Listed Areas
- Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte)
- Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves
- Fraser Island
- Great Barrier Reef
- Greater Blue Mountains Area
- Heard and McDonald Islands
- Lord Howe Island
- Macquarie Island
- Purnululu National Park
- Shark Bay
- Wet Tropics of Queensland
Source: UNESCO
[edit] National Heritage Listed Areas
Sydney
[edit] State Heritage Listed Areas
[edit] National Parks
[edit] State Parks
[edit] Marine Reserves or Parks
[edit] Federal
The Australian Government manages an estate of marine protected areas (MPA) that are Commonwealth reserves under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
- Australian Whale Sanctuary
- Shark Bay Marine Park
- Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve
- Cartier Island Marine Reserve
- Cod Grounds Commonwealth Marine Reserve
- Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and
- Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve (Coral Sea Island Territory)
- Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve
- Great Australian Bight Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
- Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve
- Lord Howe Island Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
- Macquarie Island Marine Park
- Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve
- Ningaloo Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
- Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (Commonwealth Waters)
- South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network
[edit] NSW
These are referred aquatic reserves declared under the Fisheries Management Act 1994
- Cook Island (Tweed Heads)
- Barrenjoey Head (Hawkesbury River)
- Narrabeen Head
- Long Reef
- Cabbage Tree Bay (Manly)
- North (Sydney) Harbour
- Bronte-Coogee
- Cape Banks (La Perouse)
- Boat Harbour (Kurnell)
- Towra Point (Botany Bay)
- Shiprock (Port Hacking)
- Bushrangers Bay (Shell Harbour)
[edit] Land
Although most of Australia is semi-arid or desert, it covers a diverse range of habitats, from alpine heaths to tropical rainforests, and is recognised as a megadiverse country. Because of the great age and consequent low levels of fertility of the continent, its extremely variable weather patterns, and its long-term geographic isolation, much of Australia's biota is unique and diverse. About 85% of flowering plants, 84% of mammals, more than 45% of birds, and 89% of in-shore, temperate-zone fish are endemic.[1] Many of Australia's ecoregions, and the species within those regions, are threatened by human activities and introduced plant and animal species. The federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is a legal framework for the protection of threatened species. Numerous protected areas have been created under the national Biodiversity Action Plan to protect and preserve unique ecosystems; 64 wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention, and 16 World Heritage Sites have been established. Australia was ranked 13th in the world on the 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index.[2]
Most Australian woody plant species are evergreen and many are adapted to fire and drought, including many eucalyptus and acacias. Australia has a rich variety of endemic legume species that thrive in nutrient-poor soils because of their symbiosis with Rhizobia bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Well-known Australian fauna include monotremes (the platypus and echidna); a host of marsupials, including the kangaroo, koala, wombat; and birds such as the emu and kookaburra. The dingo was introduced by Austronesian people who traded with Indigenous Australians around 3000 BCE.[3] Many plant and animal species became extinct soon after first human settlement, including the Australian megafauna; others have become extinct since European settlement, among them the Thylacine.[4][5]
[edit] Water
Australia is the second driest continent (after Antarctica), and frequent droughts have led to the introduction of water restrictions in all parts of Australia.
See also:
[edit] Air
[edit] Carbon dioxide emissions
Australia is the number one in world's per capita carbon dioxide emissions: [6]
Tons of CO2 per year per capita:
- Australia: 10
- United States: 8.2
- United Kingdom: 3.2
- China: 1.8
- India: 0.5
[edit] State of the Environment Reports
[edit] Commonwealth of Australia
[edit] New South Wales
=== Victoria === rules
[edit] South Australia
[edit] Western Australia
[edit] Tasmania
[edit] Australian Capital Territory
[edit] Northern Territory
[edit] Environment Organisations
- Australian Conservation Foundation
- Greenpeace Australia Pacific
- Sustainable Population Australia
- eco media
- Envirotalk - Australia's Largest Environmental Discussion Forum
[edit] See also
- Australian Marine Conservation Society
- Conservation in Australia
- Climate change in Australia
- List of wettest known tropical cyclones in Australia
[edit] References
- ^ About Biodiversity. Department of the Environment and Heritage. Archived from the original on 2007-02-05015628. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index (pg.112). Yale University. Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
- ^ Savolainen, P. et al. 2004. A detailed picture of the origin of the Australian dingo, obtained from the study of mitochondrial DNA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 101:12387–12390 PMID
- ^ Additional Thylacine Topics: Persecution. The Thylacine Museum (2006). Retrieved on 27 November 2006.
- ^ National Threatened Species Day. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government (2006). Retrieved on 21 November 2006.
- ^ CARMA, Geographic Regions
[edit] External links
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