Sydney, Feb 13 Australia and other high-emissions countries must take drastic climate action following a record-breaking year in 2024, a world-leading expert has said.
Mark Howden, director of the Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions (ICEDS) at the Australian National University (ANU), on Thursday said that global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut rapidly to prevent the impacts of climate change from becoming irreversible.
In comments released ahead of his final annual State of the Climate address, Howden - who will step down as ICEDS director 10 years later in 2025 - said that Australia has the natural resources and means to become a global leader in renewable energy and climate adaptation, reports Xinhua news agency.
He said that the world "is paying the price of the escalating impacts" of climate change after average global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time in 2024.
"Not only was 2024 the hottest year on record, but each of the last 10 years is the hottest 10 years on record - the change is unrelenting," Howden, who is also vice-chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said on Thursday.
"Record heat is dramatically changing how water moves around the planet, accelerating the global water cycle and amplifying climate extremes."
He said that the world has reached "uncharted territory" and that with that territory comes new and larger risks from climate extremes.
Howden said that Australia is not implementing its options to adapt to climate change and lessen the risks to the extent that the country could or rationally should.
Additionally, another research has found that the behaviour of Australia's crocodiles is changing as their body temperature increases with global warming.
The research, which was published on Thursday by the University of Queensland (UQ), analysed 15 years of data from sensors and trackers on 203 wild saltwater crocodiles in rivers on the Cape York Peninsula, Australia's northernmost point.
Researchers found that the crocodiles are spending more time at or near their critical thermal limit of 32-33 degrees Celsius, at which point their diving and swimming performance is impacted.
The study found that since 2008, the temperature peaks experienced by the crocodiles have increased by 0.5 degrees Celsius and their median body temperature has increased by 0.11 degrees Celsius.
Of the crocodiles that were studied, 45 experienced body temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius at least once.
As cold-blooded animals, crocodiles cannot regulate their body temperature, relying instead on external sources.
Kaitlin Barham, a co-author of the research from UQ's School of the Environment, said that the warming environment means crocodiles are spending more time on cooling behaviours.
"But if their time and energy is dominated by the need to stay cool, activity necessary for hunting, keeping safe from predators or reproducing is reduced," she said on Thursday.
Co-author Craig Franklin said that hotter crocodiles don't dive underwater for as long, which he said could impact their ability to ambush prey.
He said that the next step for the researchers is to study the impacts of the behaviour changes on the overall health of the crocodile population.
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