Query: The Millennium Drought starting in 1997 and ending in 2010 was misinterpreted as a long term trend as a consequence of Climate Change.

Relevant passages:
Climate change in Australia <=SEP=> Climate change has been a major issue in Australia since the beginning of the 21st century . In 2013 , the CSIRO released a report stating that Australia is becoming hotter , and that it will experience more extreme heat and longer fire seasons because of climate change . In 2014 , the Bureau of Meteorology released a report on the state of Australia 's climate that highlighted several key points , including the significant increase in Australia 's temperatures ( particularly night-time temperatures ) and the increasing frequency of bush fires , droughts and floods , which have all been linked to climate change .   Since the beginning of the 20th century Australia has experienced an increase of nearly 1 ° C in average annual temperatures , with warming occurring at twice the rate over the past 50 years than in the previous 50 years . Recent climate events such as extremely high temperatures and widespread drought have focused government and public attention on the impacts of climate change in Australia . Rainfall in southwestern Australia has decreased by 10 -- 20 % since the 1970s , while southeastern Australia has also experienced a moderate decline since the 1990s . Rainfall patterns are expected to be problematic , as rain has become heavier and infrequent , as well as more common in summer rather than in winter , with little or no uptrend in rainfall in the Western Plateau and the Central Lowlands of Australia . Water sources in the southeastern areas of Australia have depleted due to increasing population in urban areas ( rising demand ) coupled with climate change factors such as persistent prolonged drought ( diminishing supply ) . At the same time , Australia continues to have the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions . Temperatures in Australia have also risen dramatically since 1910 and nights have become warmer .   A carbon tax was introduced in 2011 by the Gillard government in an effort to reduce the impact of climate change and despite some criticism , it successfully reduced Australia 's carbon dioxide emissions , with coal generation down 11 % since 2008 -- 09 . The subsequent Australian Government , elected in 2013 under then Prime Minister Tony Abbott was criticised for being `` in complete denial about climate change '' . Furthermore , the Abbott government repealed the carbon tax on 17 July 2014 in a heavily criticised move . The renewable energy target ( RET ) , launched in 2001 , was heavily modified under Abbott 's government . However , under the government of Malcolm Turnbull , Australia attended the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference and adopted the Paris Agreement . This agreement includes a review of emission reduction targets every 5 years from 2020 .   The federal government and all state governments ( New South Wales , Victoria , Queensland , South Australia , Western Australia , Tasmania , Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ) have explicitly recognised that climate change is being caused by greenhouse gas emissions , in conformity with the scientific opinion on climate change . Sectors of the population have campaigned against new coal mines and coal-fired power stations , reflecting concerns about the effects of global warming on Australia .  The Garnaut Climate Change Review predicted that a net benefit to Australia may be derived by stabilising greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at 450ppm CO2 eq .   The per-capita carbon footprint in Australia was rated 12th in the world by PNAS in 2011 , considerably large given the small population of the country .

Climate change (general concept) <=SEP=> Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more. In the time since the industrial revolution the climate has increasingly been affected by human activities that are causing global warming and climate change.The climate system receives nearly all of its energy from the sun. The climate system also radiates energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, and the passage of the energy through the climate system, determines Earth\'s energy budget. When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, earth\'s energy budget is positive and the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the energy budget is negative and earth experiences cooling.\nThe energy moving through Earth\'s climate system finds expression in weather, varying on geographic scales and time. Long-term averages and variability of weather in a region constitute the region\'s climate. Such changes can be the result of "internal variability", when natural processes inherent to the various parts of the climate system alter the distribution of energy. Examples include variability in ocean basins such as the Pacific decadal oscillation and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. Climate variability can also result from external forcing, when events outside of the climate system\'s components nonetheless produce changes within the system. Examples include changes in solar output and volcanism.\nClimate variability has consequences for sea level changes, plant life, and mass extinctions; it also affects human societies.

Physical impacts of climate change <=SEP=> This article is about the physical impacts of climate change . For some of these physical impacts , their effect on social and economic systems are also described .   This article refers to reports produced by the IPCC . In their usage , `` climate change '' refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties , and that persists for extended periods , typically decades or longer ( IPCC , 2007d :30 ) . The climate change referred to may be due to natural causes and/or the result of human activity .

Climate change adaptation <=SEP=> Climate change adaptation is a response to global warming and climate change , that seeks to reduce the vulnerability of social and biological systems to relatively sudden change and thus offset the effects of global warming . Even if emissions are stabilized relatively soon , global warming and its effects will last many years , and adaptation will be necessary to the resulting changes in climate . Adaptation is especially important in developing countries since those countries are predicted to bear the brunt of the effects of global warming . That is , the capacity and potential for humans to adapt ( called adaptive capacity ) is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations , and developing countries generally have less capacity to adapt ( Schneider et al. , 2007 ) . Furthermore , the degree of adaptation correlates to the situational focus on environmental issues . Therefore , adaptation requires the situational assessment of sensitivity and vulnerability to environmental impacts . Adaptive capacity is closely linked to social and economic development ( IPCC , 2007 ) . The economic costs of adaptation to climate change are likely to cost billions of dollars annually for the next several decades , though the amount of money needed is unknown . Donor countries promised an annual $ 100 billion by 2020 through the Green Climate Fund for developing countries to adapt to climate change . However , while the fund was set up during COP16 in Cancún , concrete pledges by developed countries have not been forthcoming . The adaptation challenge grows with the magnitude and the rate of climate change .   Another response to climate change , known as climate change mitigation ( Verbruggen , 2007 ) is to reduce greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions and/or enhance the removal of these gases from the atmosphere ( through carbon sinks ) . Even the most effective reductions in emissions , however , would not prevent further climate change impacts , making the need for adaptation unavoidable ( Klein et al. , 2007 ) . In a literature assessment , Klein et al. ( 2007 ) assessed options for adaptation . They concluded , with very high confidence , that in the absence of mitigation efforts , the effects of climate change would reach such a magnitude as to make adaptation impossible for some natural ecosystems . Others are concerned that climate adaptation programs might interfere with the existing development programs and thus lead to unintended consequences for vulnerable groups . For human systems , the economic and social costs of unmitigated climate change would be very high .

Drought <=SEP=> A drought is a period of below-average precipitation in a given region , resulting in prolonged shortages in its water supply , whether atmospheric , surface water or ground water . A drought can last for months or years , or may be declared after as few as 15 days . It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region and harm to the local economy . Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing and subsequent bush fires . Periods of heat can significantly worsen drought conditions by hastening evaporation of water vapour .   Many plant species , such as those in the family Cactaceae ( or cacti ) , have drought tolerance adaptations like reduced leaf area and waxy cuticles to enhance their ability to tolerate drought . Some others survive dry periods as buried seeds . Semi-permanent drought produces arid biomes such as deserts and grasslands . Prolonged droughts have caused mass migrations and humanitarian crises . Most arid ecosystems have inherently low productivity . The most prolonged drought ever in the world in recorded history occurred in the Atacama Desert in Chile ( 400 Years ) .