Indicator: A-36 Rainfall extremes - percentage area experiencing extreme wet and dry conditions
Data
Percentage area wet (above 90 percentile) and dry (below 10th percentile)
Source: Bureau of Meteorology 2005, Percentage area of Australian Decile 1 (<10th percentile) and Decile 10 (>90th percentile).
What the data mean
The percentage of Australia experiencing wet conditions shows a slight increase over the reporting period 1900 to 2004, while the percentage experiencing dry conditions shows a slight decrease.
Data Limitations
Nil known
Issues for which this is an indicator and why
Atmosphere — Climate variability and change - Weather
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Its interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land is arid or semi-arid. Rainfall trends are important from an environmental and an economic perspective. For thousands of years, Australia has experienced strong year-to-year variations in rainfall. Changes in rainfall extremes give an indication of change beyond the normal extreme climate variations.
Other indicators for this issue:
- A-01 Annual variation in the Southern Oscillation Index
- A-02 Rainfall trends - annual mean rainfall
- A-03 Rainfall extremes - inter-annual variations in annual extreme rainfall
- A-04 Temperature trends - annual mean temperature anomalies
- A-05 Temperature extremes - percentage area of extreme annual mean temperatures
- A-06 Extreme weather-related effects - cost of weather-related disasters
- A-37 Temperature trends - spatial trend in mean annual temperatures
- A-47 Rainfall deficiencies - drought
Inland Waters — Catchment scale influences - Influence of climate variability and change
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Its interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land is arid or semi-arid. Rainfall trends are important from an environmental and an economic perspective. For thousands of years, Australia has experienced strong year-to-year variations in rainfall. These natural variations and any more extreme variations or changes in the normal scope of variation that may result from anthropogenic climate change are important indicators for the pressure of this change on inland waters.
Other indicators for this issue:
- A-01 Annual variation in the Southern Oscillation Index
- A-02 Rainfall trends - annual mean rainfall
- A-03 Rainfall extremes - inter-annual variations in annual extreme rainfall
- A-04 Temperature trends - annual mean temperature anomalies
- A-05 Temperature extremes - percentage area of extreme annual mean temperatures
- A-37 Temperature trends - spatial trend in mean annual temperatures
- A-41 Greenhouse - climate change projections
- A-47 Rainfall deficiencies - drought
- LD-24 Severe drought and wildfire correlation
- BD-15 Examples of impacts of climate variability on selected species, habitats or ecosystems
- AAT-12 Changes in colonies of plants on Heard Island
- AAT-14 Ice sheet mass balance and sea ice extent
- AAT-15 Glacier movement
Biodiversity — Pressures on biodiversity - Climate variability
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. Its interior has one of the lowest rainfalls in the world and about three-quarters of the land is arid or semi-arid. Rainfall trends are important from an environmental and an economic perspective. For thousands of years, Australia has experienced strong year-to-year variations in rainfall. These natural variations and any more extreme variations or changes in the normal scope of variation that may result from anthropogenic climate change are important indicators for the pressure of this change on biodiversity.
Other indicators for this issue:
- BD-15 Examples of impacts of climate variability on selected species, habitats or ecosystems
- LD-05 Terrestrial carbon loss rate and rate of land carbon sequestration
- LD-24 Severe drought and wildfire correlation
- CO-03 Sea level
- CO-04 Sea surface temperature variability
- CO-44 Marine chlorophyll concentration
- CO-60 Sea salinity
- CO-76 Examples of the impact of climate variability on selected coastal and marine species, habitats or ecosystems
- A-01 Annual variation in the Southern Oscillation Index
- A-02 Rainfall trends - annual mean rainfall
- A-03 Rainfall extremes - inter-annual variations in annual extreme rainfall
- A-04 Temperature trends - annual mean temperature anomalies
- A-05 Temperature extremes - percentage area of extreme annual mean temperatures
- AAT-15 Glacier movement
- A-37 Temperature trends - spatial trend in mean annual temperatures
- A-41 Greenhouse - climate change projections
- A-47 Rainfall deficiencies - drought
- AAT-12 Changes in colonies of plants on Heard Island
- AAT-14 Ice sheet mass balance and sea ice extent
Further Information
Key
Links to another web site
Links to data in the DRS
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