The impacts of climate change are already being felt here in New Zealand.
Increasing temperatures
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) projected the average changes in New Zealand’s annual mean temperature from the 1990s to 2030s is from 0.2 to 1.3 degrees Celsius.
Increasing droughts
Droughts are expected to increase for inland and northern parts of Otago, eastern Canterbury and Marlborough, parts of the Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, the Bay of Plenty, the Coromandel Peninsula and parts of Northland. When droughts occur, they will be drier and more severe than is normally the case now.
Increasing negative economic impact
The 1997-99 Canterbury drought cost $230 million at the farm gate alone and around a billion dollars nationally. This is the scale of the threat climate change can pose to New Zealand and the agricultural sector in particular. The sustainability of deepwater fish species like Hoki are threatened by changes in ocean temperature which could spell disaster for New Zealand's fishing industry.
Increasing flooding
Flooding could become up to four times as frequent by 2070.
Declining fish populations
Scientists have revealed a deep warming of the Tasman Sea since 1996 and sea surface temperature around New Zealand has risen by about 0.6°C over the last 100 years. This warming has coincided with a drop-off in Hoki fish numbers. Our understanding of complex ocean systems is still very limited but this highlights the threat ocean temperature change presents.
Increasing fires
Dangerous fire weather results from a combination of strong winds, high temperatures, low humidity and seasonal drought. These conditions are expected to increase with global warming and the associated climate change. This is likely to lead to an increase in the number and extent of rural forest fires. Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson and the east of both islands from Gisborne to Wairarapa and Marlborough to Canterbury are the areas most at risk. The length of the rural fire season, which currently runs from October to April, may extend from September to May.
Increasing health risks
Yellow fever is one of three quarantinable diseases internationally. The mosquito that spreads it only feeds on humans and is climate sensitive. Although the mosquito has limited flight range, it has now been found live in New Zealand. Thankfully quarantine staff have been able to kill it, but how long before it becomes established?
