{"id":229893,"date":"2025-09-15T23:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/229893\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T23:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:21:14","slug":"fears-parts-of-queensland-will-have-to-retreat-amid-predicted-sea-level-rise-and-increased-severe-weather-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/229893\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears parts of Queensland will have to ‘retreat’ amid predicted sea level rise and increased severe weather events"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the rain from ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper started falling in Cairns in December 2023, Dan Vowles remembers how “all hell broke loose”.<\/p>\n

Roughly a foot of water came through his home in the coastal suburb of Machans Beach as the storm swept through, causing “complete carnage”.<\/p>\n

More than 800 homes across Far North Queensland suffered at least moderate damage from Jasper \u2014 the type of event that a new report is predicting could happen more often<\/a>, unless climate change is addressed.<\/p>\n

Up to 185,000 residential buildings in Queensland could be in “very high-risk areas” depending on how much warming occurs, according to the national climate risk assessment, released yesterday.<\/p>\n

The report warned communities in Australia’s north and coastal areas would be particularly vulnerable to the effect of rising sea levels and increasingly frequent severe weather events.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

The Cairns suburb of Holloways Beach was hit hard by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.\u00a0 (AAP:\u00a0Brian Cassey)<\/p>\n

It said there would be 178,000 residential buildings in “very high-risk areas” in Queensland under 1.5 degrees Celcius of warming, 181,000 at 2C of warming, and 185,000 at 3C of warming.<\/p>\n

High-risk is considered exposure to floods, bushfires, tropical cyclones and heatwaves.<\/p>\n

The report identified Queensland’s northern and southern regions as ones which “stand out” for their high percentages of small businesses located in “very high-risk areas”.<\/p>\n

At Machans Beach, Mr Vowles and his wife are among many still rebuilding almost two years on from Jasper.<\/p>\n

The couple took a payout from their insurance company rather than waiting for repairs, knocked down their family home, and are using the money to build a higher house in the same spot.<\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/p>\n

Machans Beach resident Dan Vowles demolished the family home and is rebuilding higher after flooding in December 2023. (ABC News: Conor Byrne)<\/p>\n

Not everyone has made the decision to “go up” like Mr Vowles, who said the storm has left many in the suburb “traumatised”.<\/p>\n

“One big downpour and they start to panic. I feel so sorry for them, and that’s what worries me most,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.Flood days predicted to increase<\/p>\n

The report has also warned heatwaves would be more extensive, last longer, and be more severe \u2014 all of which is predicted to put pressure on health services.<\/p>\n

At 3C of warming, it said heat-related mortality would increase by 335 per cent in Townsville.<\/p>\n

Climate risk assessment’s sea level warning for 1.5m Aussies<\/a><\/p>\n

One and a half million Australians are at risk from sea levels rising by 2050 unless climate change can be limited, Australia\u2019s first national climate risk assessment warns.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, by 2050, the regional Queensland areas of Isaac, Whitsunday and the Fraser Coast are projected to “face heightened vulnerabilities”.<\/p>\n

It said Livingstone and the Fraser Coast could face “severe consequences” by 2090.<\/p>\n

The report highlighted the economic resilience of communities is likely to be at higher risk under climate change, leading to “significant productivity losses”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“For example, the Cassowary Coast, a major banana producer in Queensland, faces increased physical and socio-economic impacts from future extreme events such as (historical) Tropical Cyclones Larry (2006) and Yasi (2011),” the report said.<\/p>\n

The report said the impacts of rising sea levels, combined with other hazards including coastal erosion and flooding, would be “likely to compromise community infrastructure and drinking water supplies”.<\/p>\n

“Risk will accelerate in high-growth regions of coastal Queensland, South Australia and NSW”, the report said.<\/p>\n

\"Floodwaters<\/p>\n

The report warned communities in Australia’s north and coastal areas would be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of increasingly frequent severe weather events. (ABC News: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, parts of the Torres Strait Islands, and low-lying areas of north and south Queensland are among the areas expected to have the “greatest increase in exposure” to rising sea levels at 2C of warming.<\/p>\n

“If global sea level rise reaches 0.94 m, Australian coastal locations are projected to experience a median increase of around 257 flood days (around nine months), of at least minor coastal flood days per year,” the report said.<\/p>\n

“Currently, they experience around 15 days per year.”<\/p>\n

Some areas to ‘become uninsurable’<\/p>\n

James Cook University adjunct professor of geosciences Jonathan Nott said the predicted sea level rise would severely impact disaster-prone coastal communities in the state’s north, whether by “straight-out” inundation from tides or otherwise.<\/p>\n

Climate Risk Assessment warning for 1 million Australian homes<\/a><\/p>\n

One in 10 homes could be effectively uninsurable by 2050, while lost labour productivity to extreme weather could wipe $211 billion in household wealth, the Climate Risk Assessment warns, with tourism, trade, and property values forecasted to take a dive.<\/p>\n

“[There] will, of course, be higher storm surges or storm tides when there is a cyclone and increased beach erosion,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Some areas could potentially become uninsurable, and this could have a huge impact on people’s futures in north Queensland.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to cost us all a lot more money, that’s the upshot of it \u2014 not just those that are immediately impacted, but the whole community will have to pay for this.”<\/p>\n

Professor Nott said more also needed to be done to prepare northern agricultural communities for the economic and social impacts of more severe floods and drought.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Geoscientist Jonathan Nott says everyone will pay the price for climate change. (ABC Far North: Conor Byrne)<\/p>\n

“We know that when crops are lost several times in a decade due to tropical cyclones and other disasters, that the mental health of many farmers and many in the community suffers,” he said.<\/p>\n

“If we’re going to get an increased frequency of extreme events, it will have a huge impact on people’s mental health in rural and regional communities.”<\/p>\n

‘Retreat is going to be the only answer’<\/p>\n

On one metric, the report found the regions of Mackay and Gladstone were among the most at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That’s a daunting prospect for Rose Christensen, who has lived in McEwens beach, south of Mackay, for 40 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

McEwens beach resident Rose Christensen says erosion has already impacted the community.\u00a0 (ABC News: Liam O’Connell)<\/p>\n

The coastal hamlet, inhabited by roughly 100 people, is the kind of place where the ocean is quite literally on some residents’ doorsteps.<\/p>\n

Erosion is already such a threat to the town that a group of locals chipped in to pay for a rock wall to fight the sea’s gradual advances.<\/p>\n

Ms Christensen said the pace of the erosion had sped up in recent years, but she remains optimistic about efforts to slow the ocean’s encroachment into the low-lying village.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A rock wall constructed to fight erosion at McEwens Beach, Queensland.\u00a0 (ABC News: Liam O’Connell)<\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of retired people here, who are living here full time, and, to keep a community vibrant, I think it’s important to listen to what they want,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said while it’s worth fighting the rising sea for now, it’s a battle the community will eventually lose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“At some stage in the future, when all of the seabed walls, rock walls and bag walls don’t work, retreat is going to be the only answer,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the rain from ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper started falling in Cairns in December 2023, Dan Vowles remembers how…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":229894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,285,124066,124065,124067,124068,2697,124069,124070,50,4797,4798],"class_list":{"0":"post-229893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-cyclone-jamas","11":"tag-cyclone-jasper","12":"tag-cyclones-jasper-report","13":"tag-cyclonic-jamas-report","14":"tag-disasters","15":"tag-james-claughton","16":"tag-james-cook-university","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-qld","19":"tag-queensland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115210884660424564","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}