#ClimateImpactsWater – Eastern Victoria

Water Related

Climate Experience:

The East Australian Current (EAC) is now reaching Victoria.

Explanation:

  • The EAC has extended 350kms south.[1]
  • The EAC is moving due to a strengthening of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM),[2]a wind belt that moves across the southern hemisphere.
  • SAM has become increasingly impacted by an increase in CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.[3]

Ramifications:

  • Tropical fish are migrating south putting pressure on cooler marine environments[4]

What can be done?

  • Email your local MP and tell them that action on climate is important to you and explain the impacts being felt in your area. One email might not feel like much but most politicians consider it to be representative of 100 citizens.
  • Help support the Act on Climate collective by donating; we are leading the charge for climate action. Your donation helps in advancing policies that prevent climate change from getting worse, we aim to empower communities and build a strong pro-climate-action constituency that governments can’t ignore, and as an added bonus it’s tax-deductable.
  • Get involved with Act on Climate. We meet every Monday at 6pm (upstairs at 312 Smith St, Collingwood) and welcome all newcomers to join in the fight for climate justice. If you are unable to attend, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with the latest campaign.

* We aim to keep our material as accurate and as relevant as possible. Working with climate science, a field that is being constantly updated, keeps us on our toes. Information on this site was gathered on June 1 2019; if you notice information that needs updating please let us know. For the full reference list please see the following.

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[1]Ken Ridgway and Katy Hill, “The East Australian Current,” A marine climate change impacts and adaptation report card for Australia5, no. 09 (2009).1.

[2]W Cai et al., “The Response of the Southern Annular Mode, the East Australian Current, and the Southern Mid‐Latitude Ocean Circulation to Global Warming,” Geophysical Research Letters32, no. 23 (2005).1.

[3]Ibid.

[4]Adriana Vergés et al., “The Tropicalization of Temperate Marine Ecosystems: Climate-Mediated Changes in Herbivory and Community Phase Shifts,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences281, no. 1789 (2014).8.