Welcome to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council webpage on climate change.
Climate change is a significant global concern but there are impacts locally on our community.
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Over the last 100 years human activity, such as transportation, industry, energy production, agriculture and deforestation, has increased the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
Greenhouses gases (mostly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and some synthetic industrial gases) work in the same way as a green house, trapping in the heat and resulting in global warming. Scientists have little doubt that this warming is already affecting global weather patterns and climatic conditions. This is what we know as ‘climate change’.
Scientists estimate climate change will mean:
- Average temperatures up to 3° C warmer over the next 70-100 years (in the last century there was an increase in average temperature of approximately 0.7° C).
- Up to 20% drier with varied rainfall patterns (more frequent and prolonged droughts, and more severe storms with more intense rainfalls).
- Flooding up to four times as frequent by 2070.
- Sea level rises with impacts on coastal areas brought about by sea flooding and erosion.
These climatic changes have potential impacts on our native ecosystems, industries, infrastructure, health, biosecurity and economy.
In New Zealand the climate change is lead by the Government as a national policy. For further information see: www.climatechange.govt.nz/ or phone 0800 WARMING or go to www.4million.org.nz/
In New Zealand, Section 7 of the Resource Management Act now requires that councils and others have particular regard to the effects of climate change when carrying out their functions. Hawke's Bay Regional Council has taken regard of this in developing policies.
Hawke’s Bay typically enjoys predominantly warm, dry, settled weather in summer and relatively mild winters. However the region is also prone to climate related hazards such as storms (with periods of high winds and/or intense rain bursts), floods and droughts. With the climate changing these events are likely to become more pronounced or more frequent.
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| For information on climate change impacts on farming on the east coast, refer to the booklet ‘Adapting to change in Eastern New Zealand – A farmer perspective’ is available on request by emailing Environmental Education or visit: www.earthlimited.org |
Recent extreme weather events around the country have shown how vulnerable our society and economy is to the weather and climate.
If extreme weather events become more frequent or severe, the costs and damages associated with them are likely to increase. The costs of dealing with stock losses, replacing or repairing damaged roads, bridges, houses and stormwater drains, and dealing with increased soil erosion and loss of soil nutrients can be significant.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council responds in many adverse weather conditions through our emergency management role - monitoring and alerting for potential floods, storms and high seas. Listen to your local radio for advice on what to do.
The Council carries out state of the environment monitoring and produces a State Of The Environment Report to help identify trends so that responses can be developed to respond to the impacts of climate extremes on Hawke’s Bay.
The Council has adopted the New Zealand Climate Change Office's recommended sea level rise predictions as part of defining coastal erosion and coastal flooding hazard zones. Council has also proposed new rules to restrict further development and land use activities within these coastal hazard zones.
Data from our network of rainfall and climate stations is shared with those of NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd) www.niwa.co.nz/ and the NZ MetService www.metservice.co.nz/. This data is used mapping and identifying climate trends, and measuring soil moisture helps us to predict catchment response to storm events.
Land management staff encourage farmers to take into account and plan for possible effects, through advisory services and farm planning. By planting and even retiring erosion prone land, farmers can reduce the incidents of slips and other earth movement in heavy rain fall.
Day to day at the office the Council has provided:
- A modern office with good natural light and ventilation, summer sun shading, energy efficient artificial lighting, sustainable timber framing and veneers and recyclable aluminium features.
- Systems to separate food scraps for composting, and recycling paper and other waste.
- A storage facility for bicycles, to encourage staff into alternative forms of transport.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to slow the impacts of climate change. We all play a part. More efficient and smarter transport usage and energy usage are two major factors that we can all work on and have spin offs of lower power bills, warmer, healthier homes, and improved fitness and wellbeing.
- Walk or bike instead of taking your car
- Tune your car regularly
- Turn off lights, appliances and computers
- Use dish and clothes washing machines on full loads
- Dry clothes outside instead of using a dryer – thanks to Hawke’s Bay’s warm, breezy weather
- Replace light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs
- Turn off dripping taps (water requires pumps which require electricity to get to your tap)
- Manage garden irrigation so you don’t over water your garden (over watering leaches nutrients from the soil so plants won’t thrive)
- Recycle paper/glass/plastic, compost food scraps
- Buy locally made produce
- Buy products with less packaging to reduce waste, and say no to plastic shopping bags
- Enrol in a sustainable living course
- Buy products with an environmental standard mark (www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/sustain_business/enviromark/about.asp).