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).
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).
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.