Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Indicator Rationale
Burning of fossil fuels and deforestation are major contributors to human induced climate change or global warming. Global warming is predicted to have a massive global impact on biodiversity, economies and societies. We have already seen an unprecedented increase in violent weather events over the last ten years. The rapid rate of climate change that is predicted will have significant negative consequences, with Australia being particularly vulnerable.
Potential impacts of global warming in Australia are:
- temperature increases;
- water resources will be under increased pressure via reduced precipitation, reduced runoff and flows;
- possible alterations to El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and ocean currents;
- reduced agricultural productivity (reduced range of crops that can be grown);
- sea level rises;
- increased range of disease organisms and vectors – increased costs of health care ;
- coral reef bleaching;
- impact on tourism;
- loss of biodiversity;
- increased incidence of violent weather events;
- a range of social and economic impacts.
World wide, changes to rainfall distribution, global currents and air temperatures will have massive impacts on societies, especially those living on low lying islands and dependent on subsistence farming. Such a scenario may lead to increasing numbers of environmental refugees and social dislocation. Addressing climate change is a global challenge. An integrated, approach incorporating emerging technologies, carbon sinks and the use of renewable, carbon neutral fuel sources is needed to halt global warming in both developed and developing countries.
Data Source
The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment has compiled data from Victorian gas and electricity distributors to provide an overview of residential energy consumption for each of Victoria's Local Government Areas and carbon emissions are based on these estimates. These stationary energy use data are collated from metered electricity and piped natural gas usage and does not include other forms of energy use resulting in carbon emissions such as wood burning or transport fuel.
The methodology for deriving the household energy values transforms postcode level source data provided by electricity and gas distributors into consumption data using Census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development. A detailed description of the methodology is described here and the Department of Sustainability and Environment cautions users when using these statistics.
Measure
Total emissions of carbon dioxide in tonnes per occupied private dwelling
The statistics derived to produce the indicator are experimental in nature and extreme care should be exercised when using these estimates. Data issues relate to spatial error, definitions of tariffs and classes, negative consumption and seasonality. More detail is provided on the DSE website.
References
