HSC Geography · Human–Environment Interactions

# 13.1 Spatial & Temporal Characteristics of Climate Change

Chapter 13 · Climate Change · NESA Stage 6 (2022) · Revision deck
By the end you can…

## Learning goals

- State the scientific consensus and define climate vs weather.
- Describe the temporal pattern of warming.
- Explain ocean warming (SST) and storm intensity.
- Describe the spatial pattern (Arctic fastest).
- Quote Australian evidence (BoM).

Section 1

# The scientific consensus

## Climate vs weather

Weather

Day-to-day state of the atmosphere.

Climate

Long-term average pattern (30+ years).

Scientists overwhelmingly agree: Earth is warming and humans are the main cause. The scientific debate is settled — political debate is separate.

Section 2 · Temporal

# The global data

## Warming over time

~1.1–1.2 °C since ~1880; fastest in recent decades. Five independent datasets agree (NASA, NOAA, HadCRUT, Berkeley, ECMWF).

Section 3

# Ocean warming

## Sea-surface temperature

- The ocean absorbs most of the extra heat.
- SST = temperature of the top ~1 mm; tracked since the 1880s.
- Warmer seas = more energy for storms (intensity, not just number).

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons draw energy from warm surface water.

Section 4 · Spatial

# The pattern of warming

## Global but uneven

Temperature-anomaly maps show nearly every region has warmed — very few areas are cooler than average.

The Arctic has warmed fastest (Arctic amplification, from 12.1); some ocean regions lag.

Section 5

# Climate change in Australia

## The Australian record (BoM)

~0.15–0.2°C

warming per decade, 1970–2021.

Whole continent

virtually all of Australia has warmed.

Fire weather

dangerous fire-weather days up sharply.

Both temporal (a clear trend) and spatial (everywhere) — connects to Chapter 14 (Bushfires).

Recap

# 13.1 in one screen

## Pull it together

- Consensus: Earth is warming, human-caused.
- Temporal: ~1.1 °C since 1880; datasets agree.
- Oceans warming (SST) → more intense storms.
- Spatial: near-global, Arctic fastest.
- Australia: ~0.15–0.2°C/decade; more fire weather.

Next: 13.2 — Causes of climate change.

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