AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

Australia is experiencing significant environmental problems both on land and in its marine areas and several of these problems are interconnected. Clearing of trees and woodland is still substantial and apart from adding to CO2 emissions, has a number of other unfavourable environmental consequences e.g. on water systems. Australia’s river systems, estuary areas, coastal lakes and lagoons are suffering from serious environmental problems of which eutrophication is one of the more serious. Marine environments are also under stress. For example, seagrass beds have declined substantially, toxic phytoplankton blooms are of growing concern, adverse environmental impacts are experienced by some species of marine reptiles and mammals and some fisheries are adversely affected by environmental changes and excessive harvesting. Wastes from human settlements add to these environmental problems; partly because settlement occurs in dense pockets in Australia. Per capita, Australians use a high level of natural resources. Neither markets nor political mechanisms have been able to solve Australia’s environmental problems in as effective manner as many would hope for