Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour

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Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
A JOINT REPORT
           PRODUCED BY
         WWF-AUSTRALIA &
         CLIMATE COUNCIL

REPORT

2019

 Climate change and
 Australia’s wildlife:
 Is time running out?
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
CLIMATE CHANGE AND
        AUSTRALIA’S WILDLIFE: IS
            TIME RUNNING OUT?
          CLIMATE CHANGE                         For so long the major threats to Australia’s wildlife were known and well understood

           IS HERE AND IT’S
                                                 - habitat loss and fragmentation, feral predators such as foxes and cats, or
                                                 inappropriate fire regimes, especially in northern Australia. We’ve always known that
             HAVING GRAVE                        the impacts of climate change were looming, but it was a problem to be addressed in

          IMPACTS ON OUR
                                                 10, 20 or even 50 years.

        PRECIOUS WILDLIFE                        However, this latest Australian summer has shown us that climate change is here
                                                 and it’s having grave impacts on our precious wildlife now. We can no longer think of
                      NOW                        climate change as an issue for the future, for the next generation to deal with.

                                                 We know that climate change is making our weather hotter and, in many areas, drier.
                                                 Severe heatwaves are the new normal and droughts are longer and harsher. When it
                                                 does rain, the downpours are becoming more intense, causing flooding such as we
                                                 have recently witnessed in Townsville. A hotter, drier climate primes the bush for
                                                 wildfires of increasing intensity and extent, with ecosystems such as Queensland’s
                                                 rainforests and ancient Tasmanian forests suddenly now vulnerable. Marine
                                                 heatwaves along Australia’s coasts are now regular events that result in extensive
                                                 coral bleaching, such as we have witnessed in the summers in 2016 and 2017 on the
                                                 Great Barrier Reef.

                                                 Australians know it’s getting hotter and drier, they understand that sea levels are
                                                 rising, and wildfires are now more widespread. They’ve suffered through flooding
                                                 rains and the intense winds of Category 5 cyclones. But not all Australians know how
                                                 our wildlife is suffering as climate change takes hold.

Authorised by Paul Toni, Level 1, 1 Smail Street, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Authors: Darren Grover, Lesley Hughes

Cover image: © Doug Gimesy / WWF-Aus

© WWF-Australia & Climate Council

                                                                                                   Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?   2
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
© GRAEME MCCRABB / AAP
                                                                      Murray Darling Basin:
                                                                      Millions of native fish killed
                                                                      In the summer of 2018/2019, our TV
                                                                      screens were filled with the images of up
                                              © CSIRO

                                                                      to a million dead fish along the banks
                                                                      of the Darling River in western NSW.
                                                                      Prolonged drought, exacerbated by
                                                                      mismanagement of the river system, led
                                                                      to low flows and deoxygenated water that
                                                                      meant even the hardiest of native fish,
                                                                      including the iconic Murray cod, died
                                                                      en masse. Extended drought and low
                                                                      rainfall, unprecedented in many areas,
                                                                      is emblematic of climate change and is
                                                                      becoming a regular feature of large parts
                                                                      of inland Australia.

Cairns: Heatwave kills one third of Australian
spectacled flying foxes in just two days
Heatwaves across Australia are smashing temperature records by
up to 5 °C - temperatures once thought impossible in some locations
are now becoming common place. Cairns recorded maximum
temperatures in excess of 42 °C on two consecutive days in November
2018, the previous record being 37 °C. These conditions devastated
populations of the endangered spectacled flying fox, killing over
23,000 animals which equates to almost one-third of the entire
species. Simply put, these temperatures were beyond the physiology of
these animals to tolerate – they literally dropped dead from the trees.

                                                                          Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?               3
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
North Queensland: Lemuroid ringtail possum
literally cooked to death
Increasing temperatures across the World Heritage Wet Tropics region
of north Queensland are putting unique rainforest species at risk of
extinction. One of the most vulnerable species is the beautiful lemuroid
ringtail possum that lives in the cool, wet cloud forests of the Wet Tropics
above 600 m elevation. The possum is particularly vulnerable to heat,

                                                                                                                                 © QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT
having not evolved effective body cooling mechanisms. In the seven
years following a severe heatwave in 2005, intensive field surveys in the
region failed to find any possums at all. The population eventually started
to recover and has been low but stable for the past decade. But another
extreme heatwave hit the region in November 2018, with temperatures
in the cloud forests peaking at 39 °C, well in excess of the range that the
possums can tolerate. As Professor Stephen Williams of James Cook
University noted, “They don’t sweat, they don’t pant, and they don’t have
a way to keep cool. And they’ve never had to. After five hours exposed to
these types of temperature, they die.” Surveys have not yet been done after
the recent heatwave, but given what occurred after 2005, we fear the worst.
  © CSIRO

                                                         Australian Alps: The bogong
                                                         moths are disappearing
                                                         Each spring, millions of bogong moths
                                                         traditionally migrate from their breeding
                                                         grounds in southern Queensland and
                                                         north and western New South Wales, to the
                                                         Australian Alps. Here they form a vital part
                                                         of the food chain for many alpine species,
                                                         including the endangered mountain pygmy
                                                         possum and other insectivorous mammals
                                                         and birds. Prolonged drought through parts
                                                         of southern Queensland and northern NSW
                                                         has affected the availability of grass on which
                                                         the larvae of the moths feed, in turn severely
                                                         reducing moth populations in the Alps.
                                                         Millions of moths lining cave walls in the Alps
                                                         can usually be found over summer but for
                                                         the past two years there have been no moths
                                                         seen at all in many of these caves. If this trend
                                                         continues, the absence of moths will have a
                                                         catastrophic impact on alpine species. Reports
                                                         of starving mountain pygmy possums with
                                                         dead young in their pouches suggest that some
                                                         of these impacts may have already occurred.

                                                                      Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?                        4
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
© REBECCA DIETE AND LUKE LEUNG
                                                                           Government recognises Bramble
                                                                           Cay melomys as first mammal
                                                                           to go extinct because of climate
                                                                           change
                                                                           The native rodent known as the Bramble Cay
                                                                           melomys was once found in the hundreds
                                                                           on a tiny sandy island in the Torres Strait,
                                               © WWF-AUS / CHRISTINE HOF

                                                                           between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
                                                                           Despite being listed as threatened, and
                                                                           restricted to a habitat barely above sea level,
                                                                           no active efforts were taken to protect the
                                                                           species. The last individual on the island was
                                                                           observed in 2009 and the species now has the
                                                                           dubious distinction of being the world’s first
                                                                           documented extinction as a result of climate
                                                                           change. Scientists visiting the Bramble Cay
                                                                           have found evidence that the island has been
                                                                           repeatedly inundated by storms over the past
                                                                           few years, these events being exacerbated by
                                                                           rising sea levels. The last of the Bramble Cay
                                                                           melomys simply drowned.

Great Barrier Reef: 99% of green turtle hatchlings found to be
female
Marine turtles are the ancient mariners. For millions of years these graceful citizens of the
seas have cruised the oceans but climate change is now presenting a formidable challenge.
The gender of young turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand in which the eggs
develop – at hotter temperatures, hatchlings become females. Research is now showing that
more than 99% of green turtles being born in the northern Great Barrier Reef are female due
to nest temperatures above 29 °C. In addition to the skewing of sex ratios, hotter nests can
also decimate whole populations, with sand temperatures above 34 °C being fatal.

                                                                                    Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?                       5
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
© SHUTTERSTOCK / CHAMELEONSEYE / WWF
Queensland and New South
Wales: Koalas decimated by
habitat loss, dehydration and
starvation
Australia’s iconic koala is suffering from
large-scale loss of habitat throughout
Queensland and NSW; in fact the current
trajectory of population decline, if unabated,
would result in the koala becoming extinct
in NSW by 2050. But while the march of the
bulldozers is plain to see, another killer –
silent and insidious – is also at play. As the
climate across large parts of Queensland
and NSW gets hotter and drier, the leaves
of Eucalypt trees – the preferred food of
koalas – store less moisture and become
less nutritious. As koalas starve and get
increasingly thirsty, they are forced to move
trees or seek water from alternative sources.
Spending more time on the ground moving
from tree to tree or trying to find water
makes koalas vulnerable to attacks from
dogs or vehicle strike – in most cases, fatally.

                Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?              6
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
CLIMATE CHANGE AND
AUSTRALIA’S WILDLIFE: IS
    TIME RUNNING OUT?
           While these examples of the impact of climate change on Australia’s wildlife are
           alarming, there is much we don’t know about how our animals are coping with
           a changing climate. Australian wildlife has evolved to cope with a harsh and
           unforgiving environment but the relentless march of climate change will push many
           species beyond their physiological capacity to cope. As the days get hotter, the seasons
           get drier, the oceans warm up, and extreme weather events become more common
           and severe, Australia’s wildlife will continue to suffer. This is why it is such a critical
           time to take meaningful action to ensure a safe climate for all. Australia’s unique and
           extraordinary wildlife is counting on it!

           REFERENCES
           Darling River fish kills

           What an effective Murray-Darling water policy should look like – UNSW Newsroom,
           14 March 2019: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/what-effective-
           murray-darling-water-policy-should-look

           Menindee fish kill is Australia’s mainland ‘coral bleaching event’, scientists warn
           Labor – ABC News, 18 February 2019: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-18/
           academy-of-science-menindee-fish-kill-report-released/10820248

           Drought, water overuse caused Murray-Darling fish deaths, report finds – SBS
           News, 18 February 2019: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/drought-water-overuse-
           caused-murray-darling-fish-deaths-report-finds
           Mass fish kill due to ‘exceptional climate conditions’, Government’s interim
           report finds – ABC News, 22 February 2019: https://www.abc.net.au/news/
           rural/2019-02-21/mass-fish-kill-due-to-exceptional-climate-conditions-govt-
           says/10835158

           Flying fox heatwave deaths

           Extreme heat wipes out almost one third of Australia’s spectacled flying fox
           population – ABC News, 19 December 2018: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-
           19/heat-wipes-out-one-third-of-flying-fox-species/10632940

           Queensland flying fox species decimated by record heatwave – Guardian Australia,
           30 November 2018: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/30/
           queensland-flying-fox-species-decimated-by-record-heatwave

           Wildlife struggle to cope with extreme weather – UQ News, 21 December 2018:
           https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/12/wildlife-struggle-cope-extreme-
           weather

           Maxwell S.L., Butt N., Maron M., McAlpine C.A., Chapman S., Ullmann A., Segan
           D.B., and Watson J.E.M (2018) Conservation implications of ecological responses
           to extreme weather and climate events. Diversity and Distributions https://
           onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ddi.12878

                                                                Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?   7
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
REFERENCES
Lemuroid ringtail possum and heatwaves

As the cloud forests get hotter, the white lemuroid possum gets closer to extinction
– ABC News, 4 February 2019: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-03/white-
lemuroid-possum-under-threat-from-climate-change/10774516

Out of sight, out of luck: the hidden victims of Australia’s deadly heatwaves –
Guardian Australia, 4 March 2019: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/
mar/04/out-of-sight-out-of-luck-the-hidden-victims-of-australias-deadly-heatwaves

This Rare White Possum Could Soon Be a Ghostly Memory – Scientific American, 16
September 2014: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/this-
rare-white-possum-could-soon-be-a-ghostly-memory/

Pers. comm. (2019) - Professor Stephen Williams, Centre for Tropical Environmental
and Sustainability Science, James Cook University

Bogong moth disappearance
Decline in bogong moth numbers could have catastrophic effects in the
Australian Alps – ABC News, 27 February 2019: https://www.abc.net.au/news/
science/2019-02-27/bogong-moth-decline-in-australian-alps/10850036

Decline in bogong moth numbers leaves mountain pygmy possums starving
– Guardian Australia, 25 February 2019: https://www.theguardian.com/
environment/2019/feb/25/decline-in-bogong-moth-numbers-leaves-pygmy-
mountain-possums-starving

How Canberrans watering their lawns could help pygmy possums – Canberra
Times, 2 March 2019: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/how-
canberrans-watering-their-lawns-could-help-pygmy-possums-20190227-p510jc.html

Bramble Cay melomys extinction

An Australian rodent has become the first climate change mammal extinction – ABC
Triple J Hack, 20 February 2019: https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/
bramble-cay-melomys-first-climate-change-mammal-extinction/10830080

Bramble Cay melomys: Climate change-ravaged rodent listed as extinct – BBC News,
20 February 2019: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-47300992

‘Our little brown rat’: first climate change-caused mammal extinction – Sydney
Morning Herald, 19 February 2019: https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-
change/our-little-brown-rat-first-climate-change-caused-mammal-extinction-
20190219-p50yry.html

Gynther, I., Waller, N. & Leung, L.K.-P. (2016) Confirmation of the extinction of the
Bramble Cay melomys Melomys rubicola on Bramble Cay, Torres Strait: results and
conclusions from a comprehensive survey in August–September 2014. Unpublished
report to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, Queensland
Government, Brisbane.

Koalas and climate change

Climate change is turning koalas to drink, scientists find – SBS News, 3 March 2017:
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/climate-change-is-turning-koalas-to-drink-scientists-
find

                                                         Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?   8
Climate change and Australia's wildlife: Is time running out? - 2019 REPORT - Earth Hour
REFERENCES
Koalas and climate change (continued)

‘They don’t drop dead’: Thirsty koalas flock to Blinky drinkers – Sydney Morning
Herald, 14 September 2018: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/they-don-t-drop-
dead-thirsty-koalas-flock-to-blinky-drinkers-20180913-p503ke.html

Gunnedah’s koalas vital in University of Sydney study – Namoi Valley Independent,
28 January 2019: https://www.nvi.com.au/story/5870583/koala-water-use-focus-of-
gunnedah-field-trip-project-koala/

GBR turtles and feminisation

How can we halt the feminisation of sea turtles in the northern Great Barrier Reef?
– The Conversation, 16 January 2018: https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-halt-
the-feminisation-of-sea-turtles-in-the-northern-great-barrier-reef-90102

Has climate change caused Barrier Reef’s Green Turtles to turn female? – SBS News,
9 January 2018: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/has-climate-change-caused-barrier-
reef-s-green-turtles-to-turn-female

Totally cool turtles may help save species – UQ News, 11 February 2019: https://www.
uq.edu.au/news/article/2019/02/totally-cool-turtles-may-help-save-species

                                                    Climate change and Australia’s wildlife: Is time running out?   9
CLIMATE CHANGE AND AUSTRALIA’S WILDLIFE: IS TIME RUNNING OUT?
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       protection in Australia since 1978

                  TREE-CLEARING                                                           FOOD
            WWF-Australia campaigns alongside farmers,
          industry and local and state governments to help                                WWF works towards having sustainable food
             see excessive tree-clearing in Queensland and                                more widely available than ever before, while
                   New South Wales significantly reduced.                                 striving for deeper reductions in food waste.

                                                                                                      SPECIES
                                                                                                      WWF focusses on bringing some of
                                                                                                      our most-loved Aussie wildlife species,
                                                                                                      including the black-flanked rock-wallaby,
                                                                                                      green turtle, quokka, and koala, back
                                                                                                      from the brink of extinction.

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