Climate threat to Australian rainforests

The review warns that devastating bush fires could become more commonplace

By CNN's Grant Holloway

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- A new review of climate changes warns that up to half of Australia's tropical rainforests could be threatened if global temperatures lift by an average of 1 degree Celsius.

The review of literature on the impact of climate change on the Australian environment, released Monday, says three of the island continent's World Heritage areas could be significantly damaged by even low-level warming.

The impact could be particularly damaging in the mountain rainforests of the wet tropics, which are home to 566 species of vertebrate animals, or 28 percent of Australian vertebrates.

Dr David Hilbert, principal research scientist at Australia's Tropical Forest Research Center, said up to 90 animal species, including a third of those already on the endangered list, were likely to suffer in the hotter climate.

He expected the decline in mountain rainforests to be matched by a rise in the extinction rate among species that occurred only in those habitats.

EXTRA INFORMATION Read the full report Warnings from the Bush

Other World Heritage areas, such as the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland and the Blue Mountains area to the west of Sydney, will also be badly affected, the review says.

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Co-ordinator of the Climate Action Network, Anna Reynolds, told CNN Monday that her review of about 50 scientific studies showed even a small warming would have "reasonably significant impacts'' on Australian natural environments.

Many climate scientists predict an average 1 degree Celsius warming to occur in Australia over the next 30 to 50 years.

Reynolds said that while the impact of the climate change was most pronounced for high altitude parts of the rainforest, there were worrying trends for lowland areas as well.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef also runs the risk of heat-related coral bleaching, on top of existing threats such as land-based run-off of chemicals and fertilizers.

Bush fires

The review, titled 'Warnings from the Bush', says that such environmental destruction will have a negative knock-on effect on Australia's tourist industry as natural environments disappear.

Global warming might also be creating weather conditions that increased the intensity of bush fires.

"In 2001, much of eastern Australia was drier than normal which, combined with extremely hot days, created tinderbox conditions in forested areas of New South Wales in early 2002," the review says.

New South Wales suffered from more than two weeks of bush fires from Christmas Day last year which destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of bushland and threatened Australia's commercial capital of Sydney.

"Bush fires like those experienced in NSW in 2002 will continue to occur more regularly, causing serious and irreversible damage to national parks, forests and private property," the review says.