Climate change risks to Bay of Plenty spelt out in region's first report
Flooding, marine heatwaves, drought and landslides are among the key climate change risks for the Bay of Plenty, according to the regions first assessment report. The report, presented to the Bay of Plenty Mayoral Forum on Friday, highlights a number of significant and wide-ranging future impacts the region could face. The report was welcomed by Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell, who said the assessment provided a comprehensive look at climate risk across all aspects of the environment, population and economy. It gives us a clear picture of the climate risks we can expect over the coming decades and rates them over time, Tapsell said. READ MORE: * More than 300 old dumps at risk of coastal erosion and flooding * Climate change action plan focused on a warmer, wetter Taranaki by 2090 * Erosion at Port Waikato will be 75m for every 1m of sea level rise - report * Wellington Report 2019: Capital's climate change reality - Slips, storms and flooding are on their way For the first time the region has a solid foundation of information to collectively build upon and respond to climate change risks. This will help ensure we make well informed decisions into the future. The assessment is a resource not just for councils but also iwi and hapu, sector and community groups, and can be used to inform further, more focused, assessments and planning. Regardless of where in the region youre standing, were all looking to better understand the increasing influence climate change will have and factor this into our planning. Although climate change will affect the region differently, its important we work together to get our heads around the existing challenges as well as the new ones it will present. This is not the beginning, and across the region a lot of work is already underway to understand and plan for a changing climate. The report highlighted a number of climate risks across the Bay of Plenty, with the Western Bay key hazards are marine heatwaves; coastal erosion, inundation and flooding; increased temperature and drought; inland flooding and extreme weather. The Eastern Bay key hazards include marine heatwaves; coastal erosion, inundation and flooding; increased temperature; drought; landslides; inland flooding; extreme weather and increased fire risk. In the Rotorua Lakes area, the key hazards include increased temperature, drought, landslides, inland flooding, extreme weather and increased fire risk. The report said these put lakeside settlements at risk from rainfall related flooding, native ecosystems at risk from increasing invasive species and sedimentation issues, marae located near rivers at risk from flooding, tourism at risk from worsening water quality in the lakes and changing groundwater impacts on geothermal activity, farms on hills at risk of damage from erosion, forestry at risk from flooding and Rotorua airport at risk from disruption.