Southern Australia

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The term Southern Australia is generally considered to refer to the

Although it comprises about half of the total area of

Southern Australia has long suffered extreme weather events due to the arid landscape, however in recent times these conditions have been exacerbated due to climate change.^[1]

The region has several key industries which contribute to the high gross product and large value of exports. Southern Western Australia largely focuses on

• Northern Australia
• Eastern states of Australia
• Western Australia

Economy

Southern Australia is the richest part of Australia, home to a diversified economy with an expansive variety of exports including minerals, wine, dairy, livestock, education, and tourism.^[3] Across the region, there is sustainable employment, with all state's unemployment rates being below 8%.^[4]

Economists have suggested that

Attributable to the region's rich mineral soils, states such as Southern Western Australia and South Australia emphasise exports such as petroleum, iron ore and other minerals. Such commodities account for 36% of Western Australia's gross state product, employing approximately 124,000 people state-wide.^[8] South Australia is also home to rich agricultural soil creating a booming trade of fresh produce, seafood, and wine. South Australia's wine industry accounts for 17.2% of overseas exports, also stimulating fortuitous flow on tourism.^[9]

Such

Whilst Western Australia and Queensland have experienced high growth due to the mining resource boom, NSW has recorded dwindling economic growth, measuring lower Gross State Product (GSP) than national GDP since 2001.^[11] Nonetheless, NSW's main economic activities include the exporting of minerals such as coal, copper and concentrates, livestock, cropping and horticulture.^[12] NSW's number one export market is Asia grossing $3,068m annually, followed by the Americas and Europe.^[12]

Contrastingly, the ACT has experienced major growth of approximately 13% over the past 3 years.^[13] This is namely due to the prominent tertiary education sector and subsequent increase in popularity among students.^[13]

Home to outstanding beauty, Tasmania's strongest industry is unsurprisingly tourism. Isolated from mainland Australia, the government invests in numerous infrastructure projects to strengthen Tasmania's economy.^[14]

Climate and geography

Comparative to Northern Australia's typical tropical climate, Southern Australia is home to a variety of climates including alpine, temperate, Mediterranean, and arid.^[15] Generally speaking, southern Australia experiences hot, dry summers followed by wet winters. Due to the arid nature of the land and intense heat, the region is prone to regular bushfires throughout the summer months.^[16] In addition, these fires have been exacerbated by the south-eastern 13-year drought from 1997 to 2009. However, these natural occurrences have been greatly aggravated due to climate change.^[17]

The southern coastline is subject to dramatic temperature changes over the summer months where temperatures regularly reach 45°C. Contrastingly, moving inland, the land converts to desert landscapes interrupted by fertile soils, home to renowned wine regions such as the Barossa Valley and Margaret River.

The

Majority of southern Australia is uninhabited due to its arid nature, with populations concentrating in the cities of Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. Of Australia's 9 main cities in Australia, southern Australia is home to 7 of them, making the region the most populated area of Australia.

Climate change

Southern Australia is experiencing rapid population growth and density, and when paired with increasing weather extremes presents a consequential concern for life and property.

infectious diseases, and pollen allergies.^[19]

The effect of large-scale extreme events such as prolonged heat waves not only impacts human activities but mortality rates; this presenting critical reasons to address climate change

An increase in the simultaneous occurrence of two or more extreme events, known as compound extreme events, has largely impacted Southern Australia's agricultural industry. In each year of dry conditions and synchronous heatwaves, a typical cropping farm will experience a substantial loss of approximately $125,000 whilst in a regular year profit exceeds $230,000.^[25] Simultaneously, drought years lead to reduction of livestock herd sizes as we see lower birth rates alongside discretionary forfeiture of dairy cows to the beef trade.^[26]

Climate change and bushfires

In the past decade, southern Australia has experienced a surge in sweltering summers, coupled with low rainfall leading to a longer and more devastating bushfire season.^[27] Scientists have stated that the increased regularity and intensity of these conditions is a direct cause of climate change, including increasing temperatures.^[28] The region is experiencing an increase in yearly fire days, decreased annual rainfall, increases in mean sea level pressure, and tropical cyclones.^[29]

2019-2020 summer bushfires

Whilst

Australia covers 134 million hectares and as at February 18 2020, more than 19 million hectares of land was burned.^[33] 33 people died, including the death of 3 US firefighters whose Air Tanker crashed whilst battling a bushfire in NSW.^[34] Approximately 48% of South Australia's Kangaroo Island land was burned.^[35]

WWF commissioned scientists estimate that nearly three billion animals were killed or displaced by the 2019-2020 fires, not including insects.^[36] Across NSW, up to 81% of Koala land was burned, and a parliamentary inquiry found that without urgent government intervention and protection, the koala will become extinct in NSW by 2050.^[37]

Not only do bushfires destroy Australian

Other major bushfires within the southern region include 2009’s Victorian Black Saturday where over 2,000 homes were destroyed, and 173 people died.^[43] Additionally, 2003’s Victorian and Canberran Alpine bushfires claimed the lives of 10,000 livestock animals and 1.2 million hectares of land.^[44]

British nuclear testing

In the 1950s and 60s Britain deployed numerous

As a result of Britain's filtering of information to the Australian government, complacent ignorance regarding the tests safety caused environmental and health problems for local

A Maralinga clean-up program, Operation Brumby, would relinquish any British responsibility once the area was deemed safe.^[52] The British reported the area safe, until 8 years later, the Liberal-National government questioned the report's authenticity.^[53] Britain's declaration that any radioactive contaminants were "irrecoverable" were found to be falsified and Britain were ordered to repatriate half a kilogram of remaining contaminants.^[54] Following these fabrications, the Australian government widely rejected Britain's reports, forming their own views and research, leading to a greater recognition of the damage to the Indigenous locals and environment.^[55]

Moving forward

Following a

traditional owners in November 2009.^[57]

Whilst Maralinga is declared safe now, it takes to a ghost town, with only 4 people permanently living in the region.^[58] One of the radioactive contaminants, Plutonium-239 has a radioactive half-life of 24,000 years, meaning that whilst recovery efforts have proved effective, for a long time coming, the area will still suffer from stigma and caution surrounding the traces of material in soil.^[59] However at Emu Field, the test trials only contained materials with short half-lives, leaving the area unexposed to long-term contamination.^[60]

References