NEW climate reports have raised a number of issues that are set to impact the Bathurst Local Government Area if predictions prove correct.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Climate Council released its Compound Costs report in mid-May, which outlined its key findings in regards to how climate change is affecting Australia's economy.
They include a threat to the country's financial stability, significant damage to Australia's property and agricultural sectors, and a $571 billion loss in value in the property market by 2030 due to climate change and extreme weather.
Extreme weather, such as drought, is also expected to impact agriculture and food production.
However, the final finding says that the severe costs aren't inevitable, provided that greenhouse gas emissions decline to net zero emissions before 2050.
Councillor Jess Jennings said that, in Bathurst, the climate outlooks are not good.
"In only 30-years from now, ANU-CSIRO predictions paint a dire picture of Bathurst's current winter conditions completely disappearing, our summer temperatures doubling to six months of the year, and local rainfall decreasing by 19 per cent per year on average," he said.
"This kind of net loss of soil moisture is a severe limitation to any farming system, but that's exactly what's predicted.
"Local farming as we know it cannot survive these kinds of cost-increases and production declines in crops or stock, which will be caused by ever-declining soil moisture and significantly less available water.
"Even if the science is only half correct, the current drought is just a taste of what's to come."
He also feared the conditions could be much worse, saying scientists may be giving "rather conservative" predictions as climate change is badly politicised.
The report predicts all Australian agriculture will be badly hit by hotter, dryer and more extreme weather events and Cr Jennings said Bathurst would not be immune at the farm gate level.
He said politicians had to start talking about climate predictions and call for action.
"The only chance I reckon our farmers have is to be massively supported by all levels of government to adapt on-farm, but that's not going to happen when their political leaders don't understand or even admit there's a landscape drying problem underway, and, worse they see votes in denying the current climate predictions," he said.
Anyone who wants to read more about the Climate Council findings can read the report on the organisation's website.
