Climate change forum attracts academia and industry

The climate change forum attracted close to 70 people

Close to 70 academics and industry professionals have attended a special forum at USQ to discuss ways in which the local community can approach issues surrounding climate change.

Southern Queensland’s rainfall predictions for the next 90 years was also a key point of discussion.

The forum also presented some of the research and initiatives already occurring and provided a shared opportunity for review of where we are going in adapting to the impact of climate change in southern Queensland.

A number of guest speakers addressed the forum on the far-reaching impacts of climate change on everyday life, including USQ PhD student Andrew Cottrill whose research has focused on southern Queensland rainfall predictions up to the year 2100.

'My presentation on Wednesday focused on rainfall predictions, which is a really hot topic at the moment,' Mr Cottrill said.

'The research looks at rainfall predictions over the next 90 years and unfortunately for southern Queensland lower than average rainfall is predicted up to 2050 and much lower rainfall is forecast up until the year 2100.

'In fact most of south-east Queensland will have a decrease in rainfall by between 20 and 30 percent by 2050.'

Conference organiser Don Gibson from Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) said that the forum focused on the specific challenges facing the community in terms of climate change and in particular the issues facing the region’s farmers.

'Primary producers face multiple challenges; adapting to climate change and climate change policy, working the land sustainably and maintaining productivity and reducing climate exposure.

'This forum captured the breadth of these challenges and identified opportunities for developing our resilience as a community in a living landscape.

'It was a good way in which we could get accurate information on climate change to the community.'

Mr Gibson added that USQ’s contribution to the forum was invaluable.

'USQ has been of enormous help and everything went very smoothly on the day thanks largely to the efforts of the University.'

The event was the third in a series of 15 regional forums to be conducted across Australia by the CVA and Shell.
Contact Details:
Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2559, 0400 025 429