Australia's environmental scorecard worsened in 2023, but the country fared better than much of the rest of the globe, according to a report from the Australian National University .
"That basically led to less wetlands, less river flows, less vegetation growth and so forth," Professor Van Dijk said.The average national rainfall was 511mm, roughly on par with the long term average though significantly less than the 2022 average of 663mm. After a couple of wet and mild years, Australia's average temperature was a quarter of a degree above the average when measured between 2000 and 2023.
A record 130 species were added to the threatened species list last year, many still recovering from the Black Summer Bushfires."More than half of those 130 species that were added to the threatened species list this year are there as a consequence of those fires, and they have not recovered yet.Australia ranks 15th for emissionsThe report found that Australia's population grew "rapidly" in 2023, by 3.5 per cent, the most rapid increase in decades.
Overall Australia is the 15th largest emitter in the world, contributing one per cent of global emissions.