It's no global warming storm in a tea cup!

The projected changes are expected to significantly alter weather and climate systems. In this regard, the unprecedented weather- and climate-related extreme events such as floods, droughts and tropical cyclones in various parts of the world are viewed with concern.

What’s more, scientists are increasingly able to detect the influence of climate change behind extreme events.

For example, scientific research has determined that climate change made the current Australian drought more severe than it otherwise would have been. One of the authors of that research said, “This is the first drought in Australia where the impact of human-induced global warming can be clearly observed”. The drought reduced agricultural output by 30 per cent, caused a 1.6 per cent decrease in GDP and lowered employment by 70,000 jobs.

And a recent study in Nature found that climate change at least doubled the risk of the 2003 heatwave in Europe occurring. According to the Red Cross the heatwave caused at least 22,000 deaths.

A climate expert from Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, said:

We used to talk in terms of floods and heatwaves being one in 100 year events, but in the south of France this year we have had a one in 100 year heatwave, and last month one in 100 year floods - all in the same year. This is climate change happening now.

So what could the future hold for Australia?

There will be an increase in the intensity of heavy rain events in most regions. By 2040 extreme rainfall events which today are 1-in-40 year events become 1-in-15 year occurrences leading to an increase in the already significant damage caused by flooding. Tropical cyclone intensity around Cairns will increase by up to 20 per cent by 2050 . This would result in an area about twice that historically affected, including much of the CBD, being flooded. According to the CSIRO, the number of intense cyclones in Australia has already increased and there has also been a significant increase in average cyclone intensities.

Unsurprisingly, with higher temperatures and reduced water availability droughts will become more frequent and more severe. A recent CSIRO report found the frequency of droughts in NSW could increase by up to 70 per cent by 2030. The frequency, intensity and size of bushfires will all increase. As the recent report from the COAG bushfire inquiry said, “The implications of climate change for bushfires are likely to create substantial economic, social and environmental costs”.

It’s clear that these impacts will have significant economic and social consequences, as well as environmental ones.

And that’s not including impacts such as increased coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, which could become an annual event by 2050, and a reduction in snow cover of between 39 per cent and 96 per cent by 2070, which would have potentially disastrous effects on the tourism industry.

A study by one of the world’s leading reinsurance companies Munich Re has found that the global cost of the impacts of climate change could reach US$300 billion a year by 2050. Much of this cost is due to extreme weather events.