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Resilient South – ArborCarbon

This article in The Advertiser features some work conducted by ArborCarbon and partners in  a  lighthouse regional project for a consortium of four Local Government agencies and the South Australian Government called Resilient South.

ArborCarbon was engaged to use satellite and high-resolution airborne multispectral and thermal infrared imagery for the purpose of identifying cool and heat islands throughout the urban areas and investigate the relationship with vegetation and tree canopy cover.

Resilient South, a very exciting award winning project is “an initiative of the cities of Holdfast Bay, Marion, Mitcham and Onkaparinga [a region south of Adelaide], the Resilient South project is about what we can do in the Southern Region to make sure our businesses, communities, and environments can tackle the challenges of climate change.”

Changes in our climate, such as higher temperatures, declining rainfall, and rising sea levels require active management of risks.  The Resilient South project will also seek to harness opportunities presented by these changes, so that the region continues to thrive and prosper.

The Resilient South project is supported by the South Australian and Australian Governments. The project has entered its implementation phase after producing a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the whole region, with input from government, business and community organisations.”

ArborCarbon’s Dr Paul Barber was invited to speak about heat mapping and the work they conducted at a Resilient South Showcase event attended by the South Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation and Climate Change, the Hon. Ian Hunter at Flinders University of South Australian in Adelaide on the Wednesday 15th June 2016.

Speaking at the Resilient South Showcase, the South Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation Minister for Water and the River Murray Minister for Climate Change

South Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Conservation, Water, the River Murray and Climate Change speaking at the Resilient South Showcase.

Dr Barber was also interviewed about the project by Ian Henschke on ABC Drive Adelaide after the event.  Listen to the interview;

 

Newsletters and Press Releases about the Resilient South project can be found here .  Note the January 2016 newsletter about Heat Mapping, Cooling.

The South Australian State Government has committed to the global RegionsAdapt initiative, “a new global commitment to support and report efforts on adaptation at the state and regional level”.

To download a PDF of ‘The heat is on, on the street newspaper’ article at the top of the page click here .

Benefits of urban trees – Infographic

 

Benefits of Urban Trees  infographic by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

“Large urban trees are excellent filters for urban pollutants and fine particulates. Trees can provide food, such as fruits, nuts and leaves. Spending time near trees improves physical and mental health by increasing energy level and speed of recovery, while decreasing blood pressure and stress. Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30% and save energy used for heating by 20–50%. Trees provide habitat, food and protection to plants and animals, increasing urban biodiversity…planting trees today is essential for future generations!”

Download: PDF version

Urban greening becoming a hot issue for WA

“Heatwave-related deaths in Perth are expected to more than double from 137 in 2011 to 378 by 2050 as the state faces increased warming due to climate change.

This prediction from the State of Australian Cities 2013 places Perth fourth in Australia for the number of annual heat-related deaths behind Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.”

To put this in perspective WA’s Road Toll  was 161 for the whole state in 2015, with 74 deaths in the Perth metropolitan area.  See below the Annual Fatalities from traffic accidents in WA.

Road deaths by year

 

Climate change could put eucalypts at risk of death from air bubbles

“Extreme droughts could lead to widespread death of eucalypts from embolisms, researchers say.

ArborCarbon scientists have co-authored publications that have investigated the link between bioclimate events like drought to the decline of eucalypt forests in Western Australi.

Key points

  • Some trees can shrink the width of their water transport vessels in response to lack of water
  • Eucalypts are not able to do this which puts them at risk of developing air bubbles in their vessels
  • This would make them vulnerable to extreme heatwaves and drought due to climate change”

Read the Article on ABC Science