Indicator: CO-60 Sea salinity
Data
The Navy’s Meteorological and Oceanic Services reports the range of salinity levels of Australian waters at major towns around Australia.
| Coastal Town | Annual change in salinity |
|---|---|
| Albany | 0.4 |
| Adelaide | 0.7 |
| Bateman's Bay | 0.1 |
| Broome | 0.6 |
| Cairns | 1.3 |
| Darwin | 0.7 |
| Dunk Island | 1.5 |
| Hobart | 0.4 |
| Macquarie Island | 0.2 |
| Melbourne | 0.2 |
| Perth | 0.2 |
| Sydney | 0.1 |
| Townsville | 1.3 |
Derived from Source: National Oceanographic Data Center 1999, World Ocean Atlas 1998 - Coastal Sea Surface Temperatures, viewed 8 Jun 2006, http://www.metoc.gov.au/products/data/aussst.html
What the data mean
A small selection of these towns from around Australia show little annual variation in salinity. Areas of major coastal developments, such as capital cities, do not seem to show much difference from less developed areas. However, slightly greater variations in salinity do seem to occur in tropical, high rainfall areas such as Cairns, Townsville and Dunk Island.
Data Limitations
The analysis is based on historical data as at 1998. To monitor whether salinity levels are changing these data would need to be updated on an annual basis.
Issues for which this is an indicator and why
Coasts and Oceans — Condition of the ocean and coastal waters - Climatic and carbon dioxide factors
Melting freshwater glacial ice as a result of global warming could potentially cause major and long term changes to ocean salinity, and potentially have very significant implications for marine ecosystems.
Other indicators for this issue:
- CO-03 Sea level
- CO-04 Sea surface temperature variability
- CO-44 Marine chlorophyll concentration
- CO-72 Changes in sea acidity/alkalinity
- A-01 Annual variation in the Southern Oscillation Index
- A-41 Greenhouse - climate change projections
- AAT-12 Changes in colonies of plants on Heard Island
- AAT-14 Ice sheet mass balance and sea ice extent
- AAT-15 Glacier movement
Coasts and Oceans — Condition of the ocean and coastal waters - Water quality
Changes in coastal ocean salinity may also occur as a result of changes in freshwater runoff from the land. Localised changes in salinity may be indicative of a change in water quality.
Other indicators for this issue:
- CO-46 Comparative water quality of coastal lakes and lagoons (water quality gradient from north to south)
- CO-72 Changes in sea acidity/alkalinity
Coasts and Oceans — Direct pressure of human activities on coasts and oceans - Direct pressure of coastal activities (other than shipping and fishing)
Localised changes in salinity may occur as a result of runoff of pollution or significant increases in freshwater outfalls from the land. These changes may have localised ecological impacts, favouring some species that are present in coastal ecosystems relative to others.
Other indicators for this issue:
- CO-27 Number, frequency, extent and volume of oil spills from all sources
- CO-28 Quantity of discharges of different substances from humans activities to coastal and marine waters
- CO-29 Change in area of coastal potential acid sulphate soils under development for human use
- CO-30 Length and area of coastal and estuarine foreshore altered for human purposes
- CO-32 Number of injuries to marine animals from marine debris
- CO-44 Marine chlorophyll concentration
- CO-46 Comparative water quality of coastal lakes and lagoons (water quality gradient from north to south)
- CO-53 Evidence or examples of noise or visual disturbance of marine species by human activities
- CO-65 Correlation between various human activities and introduction of coastal and marine species
- IW-12 Catchment nitrogen and phosphorus load
- HS-05 Total population and distribution
- IW-19 Exceedance of total nitrogen and phosphorus water quality triggers
- LD-40 Current research into pressures and contributions of naturalised introduced species
- BD-09 The change in extent of selected nationally significant invasive species
- BD-10 Examples of native species whose populations have declined where various invasive species have established resident populations
Coasts and Oceans — Contributions and pressures between the coasts and oceans and the atmosphere - Climate and carbon dioxide
Changes in salinity, due to melting freshwater ice as a result of atmospheric climate change could potentially have both direct effects on marine life and result in changes to currents which have further impacts on climate affecting marine life.
Other indicators for this issue:
- CO-03 Sea level
- CO-04 Sea surface temperature variability
- CO-44 Marine chlorophyll concentration
- CO-72 Changes in sea acidity/alkalinity
- 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-41 Greenhouse - climate change projections
- 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
Changes in sea salinity are likely to result from changes in global climate and are therefore an indirect indicator for these changes.
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-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-36 Rainfall extremes - percentage area experiencing extreme wet and dry conditions
- 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
Biodiversity — Pressures on biodiversity - Pressures on marine biodiversity: pressures of coastal activities
In addition to being a potential outcome of climate change, localised changes in sea salinity can result from increases in freshwater discharges from human settlements and activities.
Other indicators for this issue:
- CO-27 Number, frequency, extent and volume of oil spills from all sources
- CO-28 Quantity of discharges of different substances from humans activities to coastal and marine waters
- CO-29 Change in area of coastal potential acid sulphate soils under development for human use
- CO-30 Length and area of coastal and estuarine foreshore altered for human purposes
- CO-32 Number of injuries to marine animals from marine debris
- CO-44 Marine chlorophyll concentration
- CO-46 Comparative water quality of coastal lakes and lagoons (water quality gradient from north to south)
- CO-53 Evidence or examples of noise or visual disturbance of marine species by human activities
- CO-65 Correlation between various human activities and introduction of coastal and marine species
- IW-12 Catchment nitrogen and phosphorus load
- IW-19 Exceedance of total nitrogen and phosphorus water quality triggers
- HS-05 Total population and distribution
Atmosphere — Climate variability and change -Greenhouse
Changes in sea salinity may result from the melting of glaciers and may therefore be indicative of anthropogenic climate change due to the emission of greenhouse gases and the loss of greenhouse sinks.
Other indicators for this issue:
- A-07 Greenhouse - carbon dioxide concentrations and growth rates
- A-08 Greenhouse - change in total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by gas
- A-38 Greenhouse - methane concentrations and growth rates
- A-39 Greenhouse - nitrous oxide concentrations and growth rates
- A-40 Greenhouse - change in total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per capita and gross domestic product
- A-41 Greenhouse - climate change projections
- A-42 Greenhouse - carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by sector
- A-43 Greenhouse - carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by primary fuel type
- A-44 Greenhouse - carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by mode of travel and road transport emissions by vehicle type
- A-45 Greenhouse - agricultural sector carbon dioxide equivalent emissions
- A-46 Greenhouse - carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from land use, land use change and forestry
- Greenhouse - climate change projections
- LD-05 Terrestrial carbon loss rate and rate of land carbon sequestration
- LD-39 Change in biomass stock
- CO-03 Sea level
- CO-04 Sea surface temperature variability
- CO-44 Marine chlorophyll concentration
- AAT-12 Changes in colonies of plants on Heard Island
- AAT-14 Ice sheet mass balance and sea ice extent
- AAT-15 Glacier movement
Key
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