Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-11 (section)

=== FAQ 11.1 | How is climate change affecting Australia and New Zealand? ===

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''Climate change is affecting Australia and New Zealand in profound ways. Some natural systems of cultural, environmental, social and economic significance are at risk of irreversible change. The socioeconomic costs of climate change are substantial, with impacts that cascade and compound across sectors and regions, as demonstrated by heatwaves, wildfire, cyclone, drought and flood events.''

Temperature has increased by 1.4°C in Australia and 1.1°C in New Zealand over the last 110 years, with more extreme hot days. The oceans in the region have warmed significantly, resulting in longer and more frequent marine heatwaves. Sea levels have risen and the oceans have become more acidic. Snow depths have declined and glaciers have receded. Northwestern Australia and most of southern New Zealand have become wetter, while southern Australia and most of northern New Zealand have become drier. The frequency, severity and duration of extreme wildfire weather conditions have increased in southern and eastern Australia and northeastern New Zealand.

The impacts of climate change on marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and species are evident. The mass mortality of corals throughout the Great Barrier Reef during marine heatwaves in 2016–2020 is a striking example. Climate change has contributed to the unprecedented south-eastern Australia wildfires in the spring and summer of 2019–2020, loss of alpine habitats in Australia, extensive loss of kelp forests, shifts further south in the distribution of almost 200 marine species, decline and extinction in some vertebrate species in the Australian wet tropics, expansion of invasive plants, animals and pathogens in New Zealand, erosion and flooding of coastal habitats in New Zealand, river flow decline in southern Australia, increased stress in rural communities, insurance losses for floods in New Zealand, increase in heatwave mortalities in Australian capital cities and fish deaths in the Murray-Darling River in the summer of 2018–2019.

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