The Courier-Mail
By: Tara Ravens
The speed of climate change has been significantly underestimated and thousands of Australian homes are potentially at risk from rising sea levels, a conference has been told.
More than 80 per cent of Australians live in the coastal zone. About 700,000 homes are within 3km of the coast and less than 6m above sea level.
Ports, harbours and airports near the ocean were also vulnerable, keynote speaker Jo Mummery said.
Speaking on the first day of the Coast to Coast 2008 Conference in Darwin, Dr Mummery said there were "major information gaps'' in Australia.
Dr Mummery, from the Federal Government's Department of Climate Change, said a rise of only 1m could put many Gold Coast properties at risk and affect canal developments.
"There are vulnerabilities all around the Australian coastline,'' she said. "It is an issue of significant magnitude and it does need proper assessment and all governments working together to minimise the risks and ensure there is as little damage as possible.''
The dire warning came as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged the US to take more action on climate change and become more involved in debate on the global issue.
Speaking at the Australia-New Zealand Climate Change and Business Conference in Auckland yesterday, Mr Rudd said the US stance on climate change had made it easier for major developing countries to avoid acting.
The US is the only developed country that has rejected the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr Rudd said he had spoken to US presidential candidates Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama about climate change.
"I think our first step should be to get the United States of America fully engaged,'' Mr Rudd said.
Dr Mummery said initial work on the National Coastal Vulnerability Assessment -- to be handed to the Federal Government at the end of this year -- had not taken elevations into account and other scientific factors.
Coast to Coast is the first national conference to address the assessment, monitoring, planning and adaptation for coastal climate change.
Will Steffan, from the Australian National University, said the scientific community had underestimated the speed at which the climate was changing and there could be devastating effects on many low-lying areas within the next century.
"The evidence over the past 12 to 18 months suggests that we have underestimated how fast this aspect of the earth's system can change,'' Professor Steffan said. "We see things happening much faster than we thought.''