In an unprecedented move, the heads of the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology have released a joint ’snapshot’ of Australia’s climate as a statement of their confidence in the evidence underpinning climate change. The snapshot outlines key indicators of climate change for Australia including sea level rise, changing rainfall patterns and temperature. Climate scientists and heads of key institutions respond below.

Copies of the statement are available at www.csiro.au.

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Dr Neville Nicholls is President of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society and Professorial Fellow in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University, Victoria

“The Australian data reflect the global warming that we have been observing for the last few decades. The lower atmospheric temperature over the last six months (September 2009 to February 2010), according to satellite measurements from Roy Spencer and John Christy (and freely accessible on the internet), is easily the hottest September-February since satellite measurements began in 1978. The Spencer & Christy satellite data show the world has warmed about half a degree over the past 30 years, matching the warming observed by thermometers on the ground and in the global oceans over this period.”

Professor Peter Coaldrake is the Chair of Universities Australia, the peak body representing the university sector.

“This important statement from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology confirms the clear view of top Australian scientists, expert in the field, that Australia’s climate is changing.

“Science has been under unprecedented attack over the last few months. Climate science has taken the brunt of the attack. Now is the time to stand up for the quality of Australian science and research and to emphasise the need for evidence-based policy outcomes that recognise the lessons from science.

On Thursday of this week, Universities Australia (the peak body of Australia’s universities) will host a forum on climate change at Parliament House in Canberra. A panel of leading researchers will present the evidence of change, the projections for the future, and the practical steps that Australia can take in response. The Forum will also consider the challenges of communicating complex science and of bridging scientific knowledge and public policy.”

Dr Cathy Foley is President of the Federation of Scientific and Technological Societies (FASTS)

“Now more than ever, Australian Science needs its leading government research organisations to tell us the facts on climate change. The CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology’s joint statement of evidence, in the Australian context, speaks for itself. Their partnership presents easily digestible data for all of us to see how the measured parameters contribute to our climate which they have been studying for 60 years. It then uses this data to tell us what to expect based on their modelling of climate for the years to come. These models tell us that there is a strong probability that our climate will change in a way that will affect Australia significantly.

As with any risk that is potentially catastrophic, no matter how small the probability, mitigation actions must be implemented if we are to be a responsible society. The science presented is measured using techniques that are widely accepted as accurate by the global scientific community. The modelled extrapolations have been peer reviewed and argued through in the scientific process. This tells us that regardless of what else in the world is happening, Australia’s climate has already started to change! Let’s hope that the integrity of the scientists who have committed their lives to these important studies receive respect and acknowledgement.”

Professor Kurt Lambeck is the President of the Australian Academy of Science and a Professor of Geophysics at the Australian National University.

“A factual statement of the observational evidence for climate change in past decades. Demonstrates the value of maintaining reliable and high-resolution observational capacity. A concise statement of how these trends may continue under the influence of greenhouse gas emissions. The observed rates of natural change from comparable periods in the Earth’s past are generally smaller than these emission effects.”