Extract from ABC News
Is Australia's environment really in a better condition now than it was after the most recent devastating bushfires and drought?
Key points:
- The environment has recovered since 2020 but the benefits of rain and cooler temperatures may be short lived
- 34 species have become threatened over the past five years
- Environmentalists warn time for meaningful change is running out
According to Australia's Environment 2021 Report, when compared to 2020 — a time when parts of the nation were a combination of charcoal and dust — things are faring well.
From a score out of 10 the environmental condition jumped four points from the previous year, receiving a 6.9 in 2021.
Conservationists warn against complacency as the recovery of the Australian landscape has been mostly put down to high widespread rainfall and cooler temperatures.
These conditions are likely to be short-lived with the Bureau of Meteorology expecting rainfall conditions to normalise with the peak of the La Nina being reached.
The study led by the Australian National University shed light on some deeply troubling trends.
Animals are the tell-all factor
Ecologist Shoshana Rapley helped conduct the annual analysis using vast amounts of satellites and field stations to measure the state of the environment.
It found that in 2021 the oceans were storing 6.5 per cent more heat year-on-year, and we experienced the sixth warmest year on record.
Ms Rapley said one of the biggest concerns highlighted was the continual and rapid decline of animal and plant species, a major indicator of where things are at.
In the last five years, 34 new species have become threatened including eight bird, four frog, and two fish species.
No animals have been removed from the threatened species list.
Koalas are now considered endangered, along with the gang-gang cockatoo.
The Nature Conservation Council said there remains a lack of political will to address the dire reality.
"The government spends $50 million on improving koala habitat and $2 billion on diesel fuel subsidies," Mr Tremain said.
Despite above-average rainfall and runoff across eastern Australia, waterbirds also continued to decline in numbers.
Ms Rapley warned the reprieve from dry conditions may not actually benefit species.
She said the conditions would need to stick around for a lot longer for Australia's biodiversity at large to recover from an increasingly challenging climate.
Not all bad news
Vegetation growth has been well above average, with improved conditions in all major cropping regions except for South Australia.
National river inflows were almost 30 per cent higher than the last two decades, but wetland flooding was still well below average.
Tree cover has recovered after losses from bushfires in south-east Australia and along the coast of south-west WA.
But Ms Rapley said that would simply provide more fuel for fire in coming seasons as drier conditions return.
The snapshot, she hoped, would provide a catalyst for policy makers and the public to make meaningful change.
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