State of the Environment

Atmosphere

The Earth’s atmosphere protects living things from harmful solar radiation and ensures a suitable temperature range for life on earth. The atmosphere is the place where chemical reactions take place that create our weather, providing the air that we breathe and rain that is vital to Victorian agriculture.

Climate change confronts humanity with the possibility of catastrophic changes to life on Earth, and Victoria’s climate is already changing. The last ten years have been hotter and drier than average and the sea level is rising. The indicators presented show that these trends are likely to continue. Our naturally variable climate, our south-facing coastline and our predicted spacial shift in weather patterns associated with climate change make this State particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which will place significant pressure on both the natural environment and society.

The hole in the ozone layer, a factor in Victorians’ susceptibility to skin cancer, is stabilising. This is due to the success of global action intended to limit the use of ozone-depleting substances. Bushfires and dust storms are a threat to the quality of our air, though by international standards our air quality is good. However, these improvements in both stratospheric ozone and air quality are under threat from a changing climate.

This section of the report covers climate change, stratospheric ozone and air quality. The introduction to the Atmosphere section provides some general and common information as background to the issues presented.

There are two ways to access sub-sections within the Atmosphere section: The pdf’s below contain the introduction only and entire section respectively, while the links on the left will take you to each of the sub-sections individually.

Atmosphere - Introduction only (PDF - 394 KB)

Atmosphere (PDF - 1.7 MB)