Australia: Climate change report prompts calls for action

Jamie Hanson of the Conservation Council of WA has urged the government of the Western Australia to help the region's farmers adapt to climate change. "They actually really need to start coming up with adaptation strategies to help these communities deal with the impacts of climate change," he told ABC. "We know there's going to be less rain, it's time to start preparing agricultural communities for a future in which maybe some of the practices they've been using to date won't be viable," he added.

The Conservation Council has just released a report entitled 'The Critical Decade: Extreme Weather'. Mr Hanson warned that coastal communities will have to face increasing flood risks:

"When we factor that in with the possibility of increased storms and so on, we'll see coastal communities like Mandurah for instance threatened by inundation," he said.