1.

Higher Temperatures

• higher average and extreme temperatures

• heat stress for people and crops

• lifting cloud base

• improved building design, (shade, breeze-ways, insulation)

• town planning to include water features to help cooling

• design for less heat rediation and less surface heat reflection

• more trees in towns

• appropriate agricultural crops and trees to shade fields

• solar powered air conditioning

• reduction in reflective heat from urban areas and infrastructure to avoid raising of cloud base over rainforest behind Cairns

• demand zero emission and electric cars from manufacturers and encourage their uptake

2.

Sea Level Rises

• Coastline changes

• flooding

• low lying community displacement

• building design to allow for flooding, floating houses, pole homes, sacrifice ground floors

• relocation and restriction of development

• improved drainage

• move airport, shift hospital & other vital community services and infrastructure

• plant coastal mangroves

• sea walls (are unlikely to work)

• change low-lying city streets to canals

3.

Fauna & Flora

• Loss of species

• species migration

• more pests and diseases

• mitigation of CO2 eg adding charcoal to soils to sequester carbon (Terra Preta)

• reduce other stresses on systems, increase biodiversity,

• less monoculture

• reduce weed impacts,

• identify and protect high diversity areas,

4.

Barrier Reef

• migration and redistribution of species

• coral bleaching

• loss of species and reef

• reduction and capture of nutrient outflow,

• identify and protect diverse areas,

• revegetaion of and protecting mangroves

• reduce emissions and teach tourists how to do that!

5.

Health

• increase in vector born diseases

• heat stress

• more training for the health community on tropical diseases,

• vector control,

• increase in quarantine expertise,

• increased community health awareness and education,

• fly screens,

• more health infrastructure

6.

Fires

• increase in extent and frequency of bush fires

• rainforest sensitive to repeated fires

• hotter fires

• possibly crown fires in open forest

• more fire breaks (in open forest wide enough to stop crown fires)

• controlled burning,

• vegetation management,

• include indigenous knowledge

• inform residents about fire dangers

7.

Water

• increased evaporation

• increased flooding

• more severe draughts

• less secure supply and availability

• public and business education

• remove volume discounts

• increase installation and use of rainwater tanks

• household grey water usage

• supportive infrastructure and regulations,

• choice of low-water garden plants in public spaces

• reducing water usage in peak heat of day (eg council irrigation)

• storm water capture, storage and usage for public green spaces

• output of toxins to be dealt with at source,

• reduction of land clearing,

• diversify agriculture

• change agricultural practises to sustainable and water conserving practises like permaculture, organics, no-till etc

• adding charcoal to soils (Terra Preta) to sequester carbon and hold moisture!

• best practise water management,

• feedback on usage and mechanisms to discourage waste

8.

Wind

• stronger and more frequent winds

• inceased agricultural soil drying

• Increase wind power generation

• increase wind ratings for new buildings

• wind breaks on farms

• modified agricultural practises – eg dry-land farming

• avoid open fields, mulching

9.

Extreme Weather

• increased rainfall intensity in wet season

• rainfall decrease in dry increased aridity

• increase in erosion due to severity of rainfall

• more extreme day-to-day weather changes

• damage to infrastructure (roads, powerlines etc)

• Heat waves and cold snaps ~ impacts on mortality

• increase in freak winds and waves

• increased intensity of cyclones

• increase biodiversity,

• reduce emissions,

• timely evacuation in cyclones, accurate advance evacuation information and public education

• develop response strategies,

• built landscape adaptations,

• increase buildings cyclone rating to category 5,

• retrofitting established houses,

• increase drainage

• establish local food networks

10.

Food

• less reliable harvests

• instability of supplies

• reduce food miles,

• local sustainability in food sources,

• eating seasonally,

• education,

• de-centralisation,

• farmers markets,

• consumer supported agriculture

11.

Environmental Refugees

• competition for land with development

• influx of southerners and demand on systems

• capping of population increase to sustainable level,

• limit development to land areas of low environmental sensitivity

• high-density nodal development rather than sprawling suburbia

12.

Increase in social instability

• capping population increase to sustainable level,

• reduce rich/poor divide

• provide basic social services to anyone for free

13.

Regulatory System Inertia

• Regular communication with public and stake holders to allow for fast adaptation of regulations to reflect changing conditions (eg shift subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables)

• visionary leadership and foresight,

• flexibility and adaptability,

• responsive and proactive anticipatory systems

14

Peak Oil repercussions

• much higher oil and petrol prices

• reduction in tourism

• private transport too expensive for many

• transporting goods in and out of FNQ will be more expensive

• significant increase of costs for conventional agriculture

• Design and construction, re-evaluation, modification and advertising of local public transport to maximise uptake

• light rail using modified cane tracks,

• train carriages to allow for bike storage and seating

• railmotor from Gordonvale,

• limited range road upgrade and southern rail tunnel instead of Kuranda Range 4-Lane-Highway

• increase bicycle paths, more bike parking areas, bikes on public transport,

• bike and car hire and sharing systems,

• incentives for car-less travel,

• skyrail commuter service,

• increase FNQ's self-reliance

• change to low-energy farming methods

15

Economy
impact on tourism

• diversify economy

• FNQ region to be a model / leader in sustainable practises and technologies

16

Declining population (due to declining tourism or other effects)

• keep this option in mind when planning

17

Insurance increases

• regulate insurers

• bonuses for well prepared customers

18

Unpredictable Changes

• err on the side of caution

• be prepared for even worse effects

• increase resilience of natural and built systems